Indian Police Question Suspects in Delhi Blasts, Put Toll at 20

By Jay Shankar and Pratik Parija

Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Indian police are questioning several people suspected of involvement in yesterday's blasts in the capital New Delhi that killed at least 20 and injured 98, the worst terrorist attack in the country since 50 were killed in the city of Ahmedabad in July.

``We have some vital clues and hope to solve the case very soon,'' police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said in a telephone interview from New Delhi. ``The police are questioning several suspects and no arrests have been made so far.''

Indian Mujahideen, which had claimed responsibility for recent terrorist attacks in the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan, said it was behind the blasts, Press Trust of India said.

The police also defused three bombs late yesterday, Bhagat said. ``Two bombs were defused in the Connaught Place area and another one near India Gate.''

The attacks take the toll of people killed in India in terrorist attacks in the past year to more than 200. Terrorists have placed bombs on bicycles, under theater seats and near markets, timing them to go off during the evening rush hour.

Home MinisterShivraj Patil, who said the five blasts took place within 45 minutes, starting at about 6 p.m., condemned the attacks. ``I am confident that security agencies will soon be able to get to the bottom of these incidents and the culprits brought to book.''

Two of the blasts took place in the central Connaught Place area and two at a market in the upscale Greater Kailash area, Delhi Police chief Y.S. Dadwal said. One blast took place at Ghaffar Market in the Karol Bagh area, he said.

Debris, Blood

One of the blast sites in the Connaught Place area, outside the Barakhamba Road Delhi Metro Rail Corp. station entrance, was strewn with debris from the blast minutes after a bomb went off in or near a dustbin. Pools of blood could also be seen.

The attacks come about three years after 59 people were killed and 224 injured in New Delhi when three explosions took place in two crowded markets and on a public bus. The blasts of Oct. 29, 2005, took place as people shopped for the main Hindu festival of Diwali and the Muslim festival of Eid.

Yesterday's bomb attack happened at a time when India is preparing for next month's festival season, which includes Diwali, the country's biggest, and mid-way through the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started at the beginning of September.

President Pratibha Patil, Prime MinisterManmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, president of the ruling Congress party, all condemned the attacks.

U.S. Ambassador to India David C. Mulford extended his government's sympathies to the victims and their families.

Foreign Hand

The government has previously blamed terrorist attacks on organizations linked to foreign powers, without offering evidence or making arrests. Local media often blame the attacks on groups backed by Pakistan or Bangladesh, without identifying the security officials who provided the information.

Sixteen bombs exploded in Ahmedabad within 20 minutes late on July 26, a day after seven bombs tore through India's technology hub of Bangalore, killing two. At least 20 devices hidden in cars and garbage cans were discovered and defused in the Gujarat city of Surat, days after the Ahmedabad blasts.

Indian Mujahideen had claimed responsibility for the Ahmedabad and Jaipur blasts and threatened more attacks. The group has claimed previously that the attack was in revenge for violence in Gujarat between Hindus and Muslims in 2002, in which almost 2,000 people were killed.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jay Shankar in Bangalore at jshankar1@bloomberg.netPratik Parija in New Delhi at pparija@bloomberg.net.