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| India-Pakistan |
| Surat under terror scanner, 2 cars with explosives found |
| 2008-07-27 |
| After Bangalore and Ahmedabad, the diamond city of Surat on Sunday came under the terrorists scanner with two cars stuffed with explosives being found and a live bomb defused and a SIMI activist was arrested in connection with the serial blasts in Ahmedabad where the death toll mounted to 49. A live bomb was defused near a hospital and two cars stuffed with explosives were found in and on the outskirts of the city on Sunday, sparking a high security alert. Police have seized a car laden with explosives from Punagam area on the outskirts of Surat city, police inspector M R Chavda said. The car, bearing the number plate GJ-6-CD 3569, was found laden with explosives in Punagam area and police have recovered powder materials, gelatin sticks and shrapnels from the car, Chavda said. Vadodara Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana said the registration number of the car found at Punegam village was fake as the number belongs to a scooty. Later in the evening, the police located another car with explosives at Heerabagh locality of Surat city, Police Commissioner R M S Brar said. Police found a live bomb near a hospital in new Citylight area of Surat after some residents gave the information. A wooden box containing white powder, wires, a battery and shrapnels, was found abandoned near Nupur hospital in the New Citylight area. The explosives were later defused. Ahmedabad remained on the edge with a live bomb in the city being located in a garbage can and defused, a day after it was rocked by 17 blasts in a string. SIMI activist held An activist of outlawed militant outfit SIMI, identified as Abdul Halim and wanted in connection with 2002 post-Godhra riots, was arrested from communally-sensitive Dani Limda area of Ahmedabad. He had remained elusive since the riots. A live explosive found in a garbage can in Amraiwadi area was defused by the bomb detection squad. A bomb kept in a wooden box near a hospital and car laden with explosives were found in Surat city. Army staged flag marches in the vulnerable areas in the city to instill confidence among its shaken residents. Patil assures all help to Gujarat govt. In New Delhi, Home Minister Shivraj Patil chaired a high-level meeting to review the security scenario in the country in the wake of the Ahmedabad blasts and assured all possible help to the BJP government government in Gujarat in its hour of crisis. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi will visit Ahmedabad on Monday to have an on-the-spot-assessment of the situation in the wake of the serial blasts in the city and visit hospitals where the injured are undergoing treatment. The Prime Minister was briefed by Patil, National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and top officials of the Home Ministry on the security situation in the country. Senior BJP leader L K Advani, who is a Lok Sabha member from Gujarat, visited the wounded in the city civil hospital and demanded revival of tough anti-terror laws like POTA saying existing laws are ineffective in deal with terrorism. He also took the opportunity to attack the UPA government saying it did not appear to be adopting zero tolerance towards terrorism by delaying the execution of of Parliamentary attack convict (Afzal Guru). Apartment raided in Maharashtra Intensifying its probe into the serial blasts, the Anti-Terrorism squad of Maharashtra police raided an apartment in Navi Mumbai's Palm Beach Road area and seized a computer from which an e-mail was supected to have been sent to TV channels purportedly by a little-known 'Indian Mujahideen' threatening more blasts in the country. With seven more people succumbing to their injuries, the death count in the 17 blasts rose to 45, Gujarat Health Minister Jainarayan Vyas said. The number of injured was 145, he said after a Cabinet meeting presided over by the Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Several states, including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, sounded red alerts heighting vigil in sensitive areas. |
| Posted by:john frum |