New Delhi, September 27
Santosh Kumar, 13, one of the two casualties in the Mehrauli bomb blast, had gone to the market to fetch eggs for his brother Bum Bum Kumar who was having his lunch at home.

Santosh’s brother said,“I was eating my lunch and asked him to get me some eggs. Within minutes, I heard a loud blast and eventually got to know that my brother was no more,” said Bum Bum.

Eyewitnesses said Santosh was closest to the box that contained the bomb.“Two boys wearing helmets came on a black motorcycle and dropped a box in the main market lane. Santosh thought they dropped the box by mistake and tried to pick it up,” said Vinod Khattar, the closest eyewitness.

Vinod said the box started releasing smoke soon after. “As soon as the boy moved back, the bomb blasted and we could not see anything after that due to smoke. I still cannot hear things clearly,” he said.

Ketan, another teenager, said he was playing near the site of the blast. “We heard this loud sound and rushed to spot. We rushed at least six critically injured victims to the trauma centre,” said Ketan. “I saw the injured crying for help. So much blood made me feel sick,” he added.

Khan Chand, a daily wager, said the police took more than 15 minutes to turn up. “I was almost 100 metres away from the spot, drinking tea with friends. We transported more than six persons to the hospital in private vehicles. Just now I washed their blood off my clothes,” he said.

“We have 20 victims here. Fifteen are being treated in the trauma centre, while five relatively stable patients have been admitted to AIIMS,” said Dr M. C. Mishra, chief, Jai Prakash Trauma Centre, AIIMS. Two other patients were taken to Fortis Hospital. Ten of the injured are critical, which includes five who have been operated upon at the trauma centre.

New Delhi, September 27
“I was having lunch with my mother when suddenly we heard a loud bang. My grandfather was sitting downstairs in the shop. We ran to him and saw smoke all over the place. We were shocked,” Reena, 20, described the blast at Mehrauli.

Delhi residents are more shocked at the audacity of terrorists to strike at will. How could two bike riders drop a bomb and just drive away, asks a young woman.

This blast comes exactly two weeks after the serial blasts in the Capital. It caused panic and trauma. Phul mandi (flower market) is a congested area but located a mere kilometre from the Qutab Minar and even less from the Delhi-Gurgaon road running adjacent to the Qutab, it shut down immediately after the blast.

The road was closed to traffic as the police launched a manhunt for the culprits. There was shattered glass and twisted iron shutters all around. Randhir Rana, a senior citizen, said the blast had caused immense fear and people were yet to come to terms with the disturbing fact that a blast had occurred so near to their homes.