Seven near-simultaneous bomb blasts tore through crowded markets in the Indian tourist city of Jaipur Tuesday, killing at least 80 people and wounding 150 in what police said was a terror attack. “We have information that 80 people have died,” Rajasthan state Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria told reporters. “One suspect was detained and is being investigated,” he added in Jaipur, the state capital. Police said seven blasts occurred within minutes of each other during the evening in crowded markets of old walled Jaipur, about 260 kilometers from New Delhi. One of the explosions went off near a packed Hindu temple, leaving pools of blood outside in the street and cycles and rickshaws in a mangled heap, television pictures showed. A.K. Jain, a top police official in Jaipur said the explosions took place in markets and several other areas of the historic city in Rajasthan, a region dotted with palaces and ancient cities that draw hundreds of thousands of Indian and foreign tourists every year. Scores of people were taken to hospital in Jaipur. The first blast took place at 7:25 P.M. (1355 GMT), Jain said, and another reportedly hit a market near a temple. The temple was packed with people offering prayers on the way home from work. Press Trust of India said another blast took place near the Johari Bazaar - the city's jewelry market, a popular destination for tourists. The fourth blast was reported at Sanganeri Gate. “It's a terror attack. There was no (intelligence) report of this,” police director general A.S. Gill told reporters. Junior Home Minister Shriprakash Jaiswal told reporters, “The people responsible for these attacks have foreign connections,” but he refused to point a finger directly at traditional foe Pakistan. “We will not tolerate such activities at all,” said Vasundhara Raje, chief minister of the desert state. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the blasts and appealed for calm, while the United States immediately condemned the wave of bombings. The blasts set off panic and near-stampede situation at all the five congested localities. The area is fairly crowded, especially in the evening when people are returning from offices to their homes.
