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INDIAN BOMBINGS CAUSED BY "FOREIGN EXTREMISTS", ACCORDING TO POLICE

By Clark Staten

Bombay, India- A series of fifteen (15) massive explosions rocked the length
and breadth of Bombay, India on Friday, March 12, 1993. The blasts, which
killed at least two hundred and twenty eight (228) people and injured more
than 1,200, reportedly struck several Bombay neighborhoods simultaneously.
Police Chief Amarjeet Singh Samra was quoted by the Reuter's News Service
as saying that the detonations were of a type never before experienced,
and that he believed that the destruction was the work of "foreign extremists".

Indian Explosive ordinance disposal experts say that the explosions are
believed caused as the result of detonations of SEMTEX or RDX, packed into
car bombs, both of which are plastic explosives that are commonly used by the
military, mercenaries, and terrorist groups. Chief Samra said that, to his
knowledge, this was the first time that these types of explosives were
ever used in India. Chief Samra also said that this also was the first time
for such a coordinated and widespread attack on one of India's financial and
business centers.

Samra refused to confirm a report by the United News Service of India that the
calamity was caused by a group of Kashmirian Moslem "conspirators", who may
have links to a disgruntled "man of Iranian origin", who is also being sought
by police for questioning. An official police spokesperson said that the blasts
may have ties to the "Tamil Tigers", a Sri Lankan liberationist group that
has vowed revenge against India for intervention in a civil war in Sri Lanka.
Police Chief Samra was quoted as saying that members of the "Tamil Tigers"
were among the few people in the region who possess the explosives and
expertise to have perpetrated the bombings. Unofficial police sources, on
the other hand, do confirm that a Kashmiri man was captured by hotel security
personnel as he attempted to flee the area, immediately following the explosions.
Police are reportedly searching for five (5) other "Moslem accomplices", and
one "disgruntled Iranian", who may have suffered property losses in the January
rioting between Moslems and Hindus.

American and British counter-terrorist analysts said that it was "too early"
to learn the origin of the perpetrators of the Bombay blasts, but at least
one observer from the United States said that the Bombay incident looks like
a continuation of the Islamic Fundamentalist inspired violence that has been
engulfing the Mideast, and even America in the past month. According to
unofficial reports, the methods used in Bombay have an "uncanny similarity"
to the method used in the World Trade Center bombing in New York. Police
investigators confirm that at least two of the car bombs were driven into
underground garages of luxury hotels, and then detonated by "remote-control"
or "timed delay" mechanisms. The experts also pointed out the fact, that
the fifteen different devices, located in fifteen different locations,
exploded almost simultaneously. They say that this is the mark of a
professional organization having perpetrated the crime.

Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao came immediately to the affected areas and
surveyed the damage. Rao offered all of the services of the Indian government
in the investigation of catastrophe, and vowed to assist in the rebuilding of
the hotels, businesses, and financial agencies destroyed by Friday's explosions.
Rao declined to comment on a theory that the blasts were a continuation of
the conflict between Fundamentalist Moslems and Hindus, which had previously
resulted in nine days of rioting, and killed more than six-hundred (600) people,
in January of this year. Rao also was quoted by several news agencies as
appealing for calm among Hindus, in hopes of preventing further retaliation.

Bombay hospitals were said to be filled to capacity with the dying and wounded
from Friday's firestorm of bombs. Rescue officials described the scene as
"chaotic" and that police, firefighters and ambulance personnel were often
"clawing" through wreckage of the collapsed buildings with their bare hands
in a heroic effort to save the badly burned and wounded. One doctor said that
people came stumbling into the emergency facility at the hospital, where he
works, at such a rate that it was impossible for doctors and nurses to treat
them all. He described the injuries as a combination of blunt trauma,
concussion type injuries, burns, and penetrating shrapnel wounds.

The investigation continues. Official sources confirm that no group has yet to
claim responsibility for the bombings. A reward in the equivalent of
$32,000.00 (US$) has been posted by the Indian government for information
leading to capture and conviction of the bombers. Indian anti-terrorist experts
say that the trail is likely to lead them to a country other than India, so as
to find the "evil criminals" that destroyed the lives of so many people
on Friday.

(c) EmergencyNet NEWS Service, 1993
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