INDIA: Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram says intelligence agencies received no warnings ahead of deadly triple Mumbai bomb blasts

Record ID: 379262

  • Title: INDIA: Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram says intelligence agencies received no warnings ahead of deadly triple Mumbai bomb blasts
  • Date: 15th July 2011
  • Summary: MUMBAI, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA (JULY 14, 2011) (REUTERS) PEOPLE WALKING IN THE MARKET AREA OF DADAR, ONE OF THE BLAST SITES IN DADAR A POLICE OFFICER WALKING WITH AN UMBRELLA IN HAND DEBRIS AT THE BLAST SITE WIDE OF THE SPOT WHERE THE BLAST TOOK PLACE POLICE AT THE BLAST SITE (SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) MUMBAI RESIDENT ABDUL KARIM, SAYING: "What do we adults tell our children? Our children think that these adults are mad, why do they kill innocent people? I have no answer for my child when he asks me these questions. They ask what does the government do? Do they provide security only to the VIPs with beacon lights on their cars? For the common man there is no security at all. When we leave our homes in the morning our family is not sure if we will come back alive in the evening. What do we tell our family and our children? If we can't even answer our children what else can we do?" COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS AROUND THE OPERA HOUSE BLAST SITE POLICE AND INVESTIGATORS AT THE BLAST SITE PEOPLE LOOKING ON DEBRIS STREWN AROUND THE OPERA HOUSE BLAST SITE AN INVESTIGATOR HOLDING SOME FILES AND PAPERS IN HIS HAND INVESTIGATORS AT THE BLAST SITE DEBRIS AT THE SITE (SOUNDBITE) (English) MUMBAI MERCHANT MANISH, SAYING: "If they go to a small town and break everything, nothing will happen. What they want is to break the financial hub, break the backbone of the people and they will come crawling to us - that's what their motto is." CROWD OF PEOPLE LOOKING AT THE BLAST SITE DEBRIS AROUND BLAST SITE PEOPLE GATHERING AROUND THE OPERA HOUSE BLAST SITE
  • Embargoed: 30th July 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: India, India
  • Country: India
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAF4TC9QK90FDL4IM4D1A1ER2QL
  • Story Text: India's Home Minister said on Thursday (July 14) that the intelligence agencies received no warnings before triple bomb blasts, which killed 18 people in Mumbai.
    It was the biggest attack on the city since 2008.
    Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said it was too early to point the finger at any particular group, but said the co-ordinated attacks could be in retaliation to a number of plots stopped by police or the arrests of militants.
    They include members of the Indian Mujahideen, a home-grown group said to have support from militants in Pakistan.
    Some Mumbai residents voiced a mixture of frustration and anger over the latest attacks on a city of more than 10 million.
    "What do we adults tell our children? Our children think that these adults are mad, why do they kill innocent people? I have no answer for my child when he asks me these questions. They ask what does the government do? Do they provide security only to the VIPs with beacon lights on their cars? For the common man there is no security at all. When we leave our homes in the morning our family is not sure if we will come back alive in the evening. What do we tell our family and our children? If we can't even answer our children what else can we do?" said Mumbai resident Abdul Karim.
    The bombings were the largest militant attack since the 2008 Mumbai assaults by Pakistani-based militants. A total of 166 people were killed in the attack which also raised tensions with neighbour and nuclear rival Pakistan, and left the city on edge.
    Manish, a Mumbai merchant, said the city was targeted because it was home to India's main stock exchange.
    "If they go to a small town and break everything, nothing will happen. What they want is to break the financial hub, break the backbone of the people and they will come crawling to us - that's what their motto is," he said.
    There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts.
    The explosions occurred at about 6.45 pm (1315 GMT) on Wednesday (July 13) within minutes of each other.
    Officials said at least one car and a motorbike were used in the co-ordinated attacks.
    The blasts came as beleaguered Prime Minister Manmohan Singh struggles to get past a series of corruption scandals and a resurgent opposition that has led to policy paralysis in Asia's third largest economy.
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