Markets evacuated

Traders in market areas shut shops and Saturday shoppers headed home as soon as they heard of the blasts, report Avishek G Dastidar & Sidhartha Roy.

Traders in market areas shut shops and Saturday shoppers headed home as soon as they heard of the blasts.

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After the blast at Connaught Place, the police barricaded Sarojini Nagar Market.

Traders were in no mood to continue despite it being a business-heavy day.

“The police asked us to shut shops quietly. We did not want to spread panic,” Ashok Randhawa, trader and president of Sarojini Nagar Mini Market Association.

“We alerted traders at other markets like Lajpat Nagar and the neighbourhood Saturday markets,” said a police officer.

Public places like India Gate — a bomb was defused here — were evacuated with loudspeaker announcements.

Meanwhile, as panicking Delhiites rushed to take the Metro, they found the stations to be shut for security drill. The DMRC said the stations were closed only for four minutes from 6.45 pm.