India Condemns New Delhi Bomb Blasts as Second Person Dies

By Jay Shankar

Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil condemned yesterday's bomb attack in the capital New Delhi, as a 60-year-old man died from injuries, taking the death toll to two.

The government has taken a series of measures to beef up security in New Delhi and ``whatever more is required to be done will be done expeditiously,'' Patil said today in an e-mailed statement.

The explosion, which also injured 17 people, occurred at about 2:15 p.m. local time in a Mehrauli flower market near Qutub Minar, the world's tallest brick-and-stone minaret, built in the 12th century. No one has claimed responsibility for the blast.

``I appeal to the people of Delhi to remain calm,'' Patil said. Security in New Delhi has been tightened in the run-up to the Muslim and Hindu festivities of Eid-ul-Fitr and Dussehra, police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said yesterday.

Two unidentified people on a motorcycle left the bomb in the market, Madhukar Gupta, home secretary, said in an e-mailed statement. A child who picked up the bomb was killed, he said.

On Sept. 13, a series of bomb blasts rocked New Delhi, killing 21 people. The bombings were the worst terrorist attack in India since 50 people died in an explosion in the western city of Ahmedabad on July 26.

Recent terrorist attacks in India have been carried out by a group called the Indian Mujahideen, which claimed responsibility for the earlier explosions in Ahmedabad and New Delhi.

Five men suspected of being behind the Ahmedabad blasts were arrested on Sept. 24 in the western city of Mumbai.

Two suspects in the Sept. 13 New Delhi attacks were killed in a gun battle with police on Sept. 19.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jay Shankar in Bangalore at jshankar1@bloomberg.net