HT THIS DAY: October 30, 2005 — Delhi’s worst terror attacks kill 57, injure 153 just before Diwali

Delhi was hit thrice between 5.30 p.m. and 6 p.m., in what seems to be a coordinated terrorist strike which left at least 57 dead and 153 injured. It was the biggest terror attack ever in Delhi.

BY 7 p.m. on Saturday, two days before Diwali, most marketplaces in Delhi wore a deserted look. Paharganj and Sarojini Nagar, two of the big shopping hubs, were still noisy —but with wails and the blaring siren of the ambulance.

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Delhi was hit thrice between 5.30 p.m. and 6 p.m., in what seems to be a coordinated terrorist strike which left at least 57 dead and 153 injured. It was the biggest terrorist strike ever in Delhi.

It came within five months of the bomb blasts at two cinema halls and unlike the last time, the Delhi Police had been on high alert following intelligence inputs of a possible strike.

Intelligence agencies say the Saturday blasts were carried out by terrorist outfits based in

PoK. “They were desperate tomake their presence felt after the earthquake,” an officer said. The blasts are also being linked to the court judgment in the Red Fort attack case, the sentence of which was to be made on Saturday but was deferred to Monday.

The first blast took place at 5.38 p.m. in front of the Chhah Tooti Chowk in Paharganj’s Nehru Market. Police suspect the bomb was planted on a chaat stall or a rickshaw outside a jewellery shop.

But it was at Sarojini Nagar’s mini market where the casualty was maximum— 37. Forensic

experts were investigating whether it was a cylinder blast, but the police said the timing and location suggested the involvement of terrorists.

By evening, the administration was fighting on several fronts — including blood shortage in hospitals. Raids were on to nab suspects and security was beefed up at DTC and Metro. Plastic explosives were seized from a house in Chandni Chowk and 10 persons were detained.

The case has been handed over to the Special Cell of Delhi Police. After a series of meetings, it was decided that additional reinforcements would be deployed for the rest of the festive season extending till Christmas.