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One more bomb defused in Surat
Another live bomb was found in a market here yesterday even while Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was holding up Surat as an example for the rest of the country for the people's alertness that led recovery of 22 unexploded devices in three days.
- IANS
- Published: 00:02 July 31, 2008
Surat: Another live bomb was found in a market here yesterday even while Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was holding up Surat as an example for the rest of the country for the people's alertness that led recovery of 22 unexploded devices in three days.
A bomb was found in a market here and police rushed to defuse it, four days after terror struck the state with 21 blasts killing at least 50 people in Ahmedabad and nearby areas. The scene of action shifted to this diamond city the next day with the first of the many unexploded bombs being found.
Congratulating the people of this city, Modi said the biggest disaster can be averted when the people and the government work together. "Surat has shown this."
Surat, he said, had proved that terrorist machinations could be aborted if people were alert. All the bombs in Surat were discovered quickly and successfully defused.
"Enemies of this nation are bent upon destroying this country. It is very important that people are fully alert," Modi said.
He announced awards of Rs21,000 (Dh1,705) each for all those who had tipped off police about the live bombs.
Secrecy vow
In his brief comments to the media, Modi, who was careful not to ascribe any blame, said anybody giving information on the terrorists would be rewarded by to the extent of Rs5.1 million. Care would be taken to keep their identities secret.
"If anyone can offer information that leads to the root of the terrorist network, a sum of Rs5.1 lakhs [Rs5.1 million] will be awarded and the name of the source will be kept fully secret."
Describing terrorism as a "proxy war", Modi said the same rules should be applied as in war, the same atmosphere should be maintained. "Otherwise terrorists will take advantage.
"Terrorists will not be allowed to go scot-free come what may... The state will use all its might to hunt down the culprits to the last man who committed this barbaric crime," he declared.
Terrorists, he asserted, were targeting economically prosperous cities like Ahmedabad and Surat.
The chief minister met the police commissioner and other senior officials of this city to review the situation following the shocking discovery of the bombs.
Extensive meetings
Accompanied by Local Government Minister Narottam Patel and Director General of Police P.C. Pande, Modi also visited five of the places from where the live bombs were found.
He held extensive meetings with Surat Police Commissioner R.M.S. Brar as well as the collector, mayor and the municipal commissioner of the city.
Modi appealed to citizens to be "fully alert" about the possibility of more attacks.
"There is no place for rumours, no need for fear, but it is important to be vigilant," he said.
The Ahmedabad blasts came a day after a string of bombs went off in the southern high-tech city of Bangalore, killing one person and injuring eight.
Blind eye
In Surat, police have asked residents to stay indoors and ordered the closure of schools and universities yesterday as a precautionary measure. Cinemas and shopping malls were also shut.
Gujarat was the scene of deadly riots in 2002 in which at least 2,000 people, mainly Muslims, were hacked, shot and burnt to death after 59 Hindus died in a train fire first blamed on Muslims but later ruled to be accidental.
Modi, who was chief minister at the time, was accused of turning a blind eye to the violence and there were fears of similar unrest after the Ahmedabad bombings. But there has so far been no violence and Modi has repeatedly appealed for calm.
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