NEW DELHI, India, June 20, Reuter: Gunmen lobbed a bomb on Monday, killing three people and wounding 30 in a crowded Delhi market.
Panic spread through the West Delhi suburb of Tilak Nagar after unidentified men drove up to the vegetable market in a convoy of three vans and tossed a bomb in among the shoppers.
Hours later vegetables were still strewn around the blood shattered market place cordoned off by police.
Among the dead was Muni Ram, 35, who had been buying vegetables for his sister’s wedding celebrations in the evening.
The Press Trust of India (PTI) said at least four people were killed but police could confirm only three deaths.
Police said many of the injured suffered shrapnel wounds and at least five were in critical condition.
Eyewitness Gopi Ram told reporters: “I saw an object flying out of the van and the next thing was the sound of the explosion and then people screaming”.
The Delhi attack came the day after gunmen killed 15 people in a bomb attack in the town of Kurukshetra in neighboring Haryana State.
The bomb exploded amid a crowd! Watching India’s most popular television show.
Gunmen also shot dead a Righwing Hindu leader in the north Indian state of Punjab and two of his companions in the worst single day of violence in June so far.
Shops in major Haryana and Punjab towns were closed on Monday in protest against Sunday’s killings. PTI said police reinforcements had been sent to Punjab to control tension.
The Delhi bombing was the first attack in the capital this year. Last year 27 people were killed in Delhi, including 10 in one attack in November.
Police had already been put on full alert in Delhi after Sunday’s killings but Home Minister Buta Singh, in a top level meeting after the blast, ordered security to be stepped up.
Delhi Chief Executive Councilor Jag Pravesh Chandra said: “It is not possible to protect every sensitive place. But the fact that so few attacks have occurred in Delhi is not a consolation”.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 24, 1988
