Two killed as nine blasts jolt Bangalore

BANGALORE  - A string of nine synchronised bomb blasts on Friday shook India’s high-technology capital Bangalore during the busy lunch hour, leaving two killed and injuring twelve others spreading terror in the city.

In a grim reminder of the attack at the Indian Institute of Sciences here in December 2005, the crude bombs, concealed near refugee camps and roadside stuffed with nuts and bolts, exploded between 1:30 pm and 1:45 pm at Adugodi, Madivala, Nayandahalli, Mysore Road, Richmond Circle, Pantharapalya and Vittal Mallya Road. The city police was put on high alert.

Two persons were killed and 12 injured in the blasts, Home Minister Shivraj Patil said in New Delhi.

He said Bangalore was made a target by terrorist organisations. He said the Centre is willing to provide whatever help is necessary to the Karnataka government to deal with the situation after the explosions that shook the city. A woman waiting at a bus stop in Madivala on the Bangalore-Hosur Road was killed in the blast, while her husband and another person were seriously injured.

Four of the blasts were between Hosur Road and Madiwala, the other three at Nayandahalli, Vittal Mallya Road and Richmond Circle, City Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari told reporters on Friday.