New Delhi
26 July 2008
India, which has suffered a series of urban bombings in recent years,
is grappling with the aftermath of the first such attacks in Bangalore.
The southern city is one of the world's hubs of information technology
and has been spared the type of violence that has hit other parts of
the country. VOA Correspondent Steve Herman reports from New Delhi that
there is further concern with the discovery Saturday of a powerful
undetonated bomb at a popular suburban Bangalore shopping mall.
As
investigators in Bangalore searched for clues Saturday to identify
those responsible for bomb blasts the previous day, they came across
one more explosive device.
Authorities say the bomb at a
suburban upscale shopping center, which witnesses told police was
placed there Saturday morning, has been defused by experts.
Unlike
the eight low intensity bombs that detonated in a 15-kilometer radius
Friday, Bangalore police commissioner Shankar Bidri says this one is
different - a "high intensity" device that could have caused a
significant number of casualties.
"The object contains a microchip, a detonator and explosive material mixed with some oil," he said.
A
60-year-old woman was killed at a Bangalore bus stop Friday afternoon
by one of the blasts. Police say the devices were put together by
professionals who used timing devices so they would explode within a
15-minute period.
Bangalore, India's high-technology hub where
1,500 companies in the sector are located, has been relatively free of
these types of attacks, which have affected other Indian metropolitan
centers.
Home Minister Shivraj Patil says the national
government is now preparing to provide unprecedented protection for
Bangalore's lucrative information technology infrastructure.
"We have decided to provide security to the private sector, especially the IT sector, over there," he said.
The
plan is to use the paramilitary Central Industrial Security Force,
which usually guards airports, atomic power plants and factories of
critical industries.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the Bangalore blasts, although such announcements by groups in India are unusual.
Authorities
have not named any suspects but say they are working on leads. Media
reports are focusing on the possible involvement of Lashkar-e-Toiba
terrorist group, blamed for previous attacks in India, or the banned
Students Islamic Movement of India.