Near-identical blasts killed three and injured at least 25 in two near-simultaneous blasts in Gujarat and Maharashtra on Monday night. The blasts were similar to the one in Delhi’s Mehrauli on Saturday.
One person was killed and at least seven injured in a bomb blast in Modasa town in
Gujarat around 9.30 p.m. A blast also killed two and injured 16 in Malegaon in Maharashtra five minutes later.
The blast in Modasa occurred in a busy market, the Suka Bazar, where crowds were out shopping for Eid. The bomb was placed on a motorcycle. The deceased is said to be a man named Zainuddin Ghori.
District Superintendent of Police R B Bhrambhatt confirmed the deaths and said a crude bomb caused them. According to eyewitnesses, two men on a motorcycle rode into the busy market and dropped a packet, which exploded shortly after.
In Malegaon, a low-intensity blast killed two people identified as Azhar Ahmed Aziz and Syed Azhar at a place called Dhiku Chowk which is popular among shoppers, especially during Ramzan.
The blast site is hardly 10 meters away from the Azad Nagar police station. Additional Superintendent of Police Sanjay Patil said that the bomb was placed on a motorcycle that did not have a number plate.
After the blast took place, a mob attacked policemen and ransacked a police van parked in the area.
A security alert has been sounded across western India. Home Ministry spokesman, Onkar Kedia said, “The matter is being investigated. People should guard against rumours.”
Earlier in the day, 17 crude bombs had been found from a garbage bin in Kalupur in Ahmedabad. The discovery came a day before the start of Navaratri, which is the biggest festival in Gujarat.