M A I N   N E W S

Terror-hit Delhi rebounds
Markets open, police on high alert

New Delhi, October 30
The three serial blasts in Delhi yesterday failed to dampen the Divali and Id festive spirit in the Capital, with Delhiites coming out in large numbers for shopping in markets decked up for the occasion.

Unfazed by the terrorist attack, all major markets of the Capital remained open today as usual. Shopkeepers in Sarojini Nagar and Paharganj markets, the sites of two of the three blasts, also opened their establishments amid an uneasy calm, sending a clear message that they could not be cowed down by the terror acts.

On the occasion of “Dhanteras”, the usual crowd of Divali shoppers could be seen at Lajpat Nagar, Greater Kailash, South Extension, Dilli Haat, Karol Bagh and Madhu Vihar amid heavy police deployment.

“Life has to go on. Just because there was a blast, we cannot stop living,” said Vandana, who had come to Sarojini Nagar for Divali shopping.

“No doubt, the blasts have left us shocked but we are not scared and this is not going to stop us from celebrating Divali,” said Devinder, who came to the Karol Bagh market with his wife to buy jewellery.

As a reminder of the blasts, the police was making announcements over loudspeaker at regular intervals, appealing to the people to be alert and immediately report to it any suspicious-looking object.

In the Sarojini Nagar market, the worst hit in the serial blasts, shocked shopkeepers looked on as workers of the municipal council cleared the debris strewn around while the police kept the area out of bounds for people.

Ashok Randhawa, president of the Sarojini Nagar Market Traders Association, said: “We are opening our shops. We don’t want the terrorists to think that they have succeeded in scaring us.”

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has asked private security staff deployed in markets to coordinate with the police.

A CAIT delegation today called on the Chief Minister and offered assistance to the state government in maintaining law and order. — PTI

Inquilabi Group claims responsibility
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, October 30
Hours after the serial blasts in Delhi, a hitherto unknown militant outfit, Inquilabi Group, here has claimed responsibility for these blasts. An anonymous caller claiming to be Ahmadyaar Gaznavi, a spokesman of the outfit, told some local media agencies here that its cadres had carried out the attacks.

PTI adds from New Delhi: “By looking into the timing and the process of the operation, it seems that the blasts had been triggered by a single group,” Mr Karnal Singh, Joint Commissioner of the Special Cell said.

He said an electronic timer device was used to trigger the blast in a bus in Govindpuri but nothing could be said with certainty what caused the explosions in Paharganj and Sarojini Nagar.