The death toll in a string of explosions that ripped through busy marketplaces in New Delhi has risen to 20, police said Sunday.
Relatives of a bomb explosion victim grieve at a market area Saturday in New Delhi, India.

Relatives of a bomb explosion victim grieve at a market area Saturday in New Delhi, India.

The number of people wounded in the Saturday blasts also went up to 98, said New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat.

Bhagat said police have not made any arrests in the attack, for which the Muslim militant group Indian Mujahedeen took responsibility.

Five minutes before the first blast, CNN-IBN — CNN’s sister network in India — received an E-mail from the group warning of an impending strike.

At least five explosions ripped through the Karol Bagh market, Kailash Market and Connaught Place — a popular tourist destination, Bhagat said. Two other bombs found near a movie theater and near central park in the Connaught Place area were defused, he said.

An eyewitness told CNN that one of the bombs at Connaught Place was hidden near a public trash can at the market. He said the force of the blast blew a small vehicle from one side of the street to the other.

“It was terrifying,” he said, adding that the small automobile rickshaw had blood all over it.
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Bhagat refused comment about who might have carried out the attack.

India’s Home Minister Shri Shivraj Patil blamed the attack on “anti-national elements” who he said “have been trying to disturb peace and create panic among the people in various parts of the country.”

“The government will continue to deal firmly with such elements,” Patel said in a written statement. “I am confident that security agencies will soon be able to get to the bottom of these incidents and the culprits will be brought to book.”

Indian Mujahedeen claimed responsibility for 17 blasts that struck the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on July 26, killing 49 and wounding more than 100 others. The blasts struck within about an hour of each other within a six-mile (10 km) radius.

Indian Mujahedeen also claimed responsibility in May for near-simultaneous bomb attacks that killed 63 people in the northwest city of Jaipur. In the Jaipur claim, the group declared “open war” against India in retaliation for what it said were 60 years of Muslim persecution and the country’s support of United States policies


Five explosions rocked three crowded markets in Delhi on Saturday evening, leaving at least 18 people dead. ( Watch )

The blasts at Ghaffar market in Karol Bagh, Connaught Place and Greater Kailash (M-block) took place in a quick succession, police said.

The first blast took place at Ghaffar market in which at least 20 people were injured. They were rushed to nearby RML Hospital.

Immediately after that, two explosions took place in Connaught Place in which at least 10 people were injured.

Another explosion rocked M-Block market in Greater Kailash-I.

The impact of the blasts in Karol Bagh could be gauged by the fact that an auto was thrown up and got caught in the electrical wires.

Senior Police officials including Joint Commissioner of Police Karnail Singh rushed to the spot in the central district and were assessing the situation.

Indian Mujahideen claims responsibility

In an email to media organisations, Indian Mujahideen, the terror outfit that had claimed responsibility for the July 26 Ahmedabad blasts, said it had carried out the serial blasts in Delhi. It threatened that there would be nine blasts in all.

Sarojini Nagar market, scene of the pre-Diwali eve blasts in 2005, in which more than 60 people were killed, has been evacuated.