Three blasts rock Mumbai

Nksagar-Sagar-Media-Inc:
Opera House and Zaveri Bazaar were of a higher intensity than the one at Dadar.It is a terror act. Quite obvious that some terror element is involved in the attack. Zaveri Bazaar blast exploded with use of IED kept in an abandoned umbrella. All three blasts occurred between 6.50pm and 7pm," Patnaik said.

United States President Barack Obama is condemning deadly attacks in India’s busy financial capital of Mumbai, calling them “deplorable terrorist acts.”

Peter Wittig, the current president of the UN Security Council, said members of the UN body condemned the attack "in the strongest terms"."They expressed their deep sympathy and sincere condolences to the victims of these heinous crimes and acts and to their families and to the people and government of India," he said."The Security Council is determined to combat all forms of terrorism,reports BBC.

"This tactic is much more in line with those used by more amateurish groups such as the Indian Mujahideen who have targeted crowded urban areas before," Stratfor, a strategic affair think tank, said in a statement.

Mumbai Police spokesperson Nisar Tamboli said teams of Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS), Mumbai Police and the fire brigade immediately rushed to the sites of explosion. The police said that seven improvised explosive devices were used for the blasts. Investigators do not rule out possibilities of use of RDX. Security has been beefed up across Mumbai.

Ashok Chavan said the blast at Opera House was the "most powerful". He appealed to people to maintain calm and not to get swayed by rumours.Maharashtra Chief Minister, Prithviraj Chavan has said the blasts were indeed a terrorist attack and were caused by highly explosive devices, IEDs. He described the blasts as an attack on India's sovereignty and on Mumbai's spirit. He said they were aimed at creating communal disharmony and was proud of the people of Mumbai who maintained calm.

Zaveri Bazaar was triggered through explosives planted in an umbrella, the one in Dadar West was caused by an explosive device concealed in a meter box of the electric cabinet of a BEST bus stop. Preliminary reports said that the explosives were kept inside a Maruti Esteem in the Dadar blast. Police late tonight said that the blast at Dadar was of low intensity.The umbrella was apparently used to camouflage the explosive during the downpour being witnessed in the city, in the bustling Khau Gali in Zaveri Bazaar, according to police commissioner Arup Patnaik.

The scene of the blast in Dadar is less than a kilometre from the headquarters of hardline saffron outfit Shiv Sena.Opera House blast took place at Prasad Chamber building where a loud explosion was heard around 6.45pm and people ran helter-skelter in blood-soaked clothes with shards of glass strewn all over the area.

The blast at Khau Gali in Dadar, outside the `Mohanbhai' stall, left several mutilitated bodies lying in a pool of blood."The entire lane was splashed with blood.There were 4-5 mutilated bodies lying around and people were fleeing the spot in fear," said Vijay, a carpenter.Two teams of CFSL from Delhi and Hyderabad have been rushed to Mumbai where NSG and NIA personnel are assisting the local police in investigations.

The city has been put on a high alert with pickets erected at several places, city police commissioner Arup Patnaik said.Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said 21 people had died in the back-to-back explosions which struck in a span of 14 minutes, apparently aimed at causing maximum casualties during the peak hour.

Union home minister P Chidamabaram said the quick succession of the blasts showed that it was a "coordinated attack by terrorists."All the explosions were triggered by Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), a home ministry official said, adding 131 were injured,Twenty six-is discharged and eighty two are stable and
twenty three are serious,some are-serious.

According to Jayant Patil, guardian minister for Mumbai, 29 injured were brought to Harkishandas hospital from Opera House of whom six were serious.