Mumbai, July 13: The reminder roared at 6.54pm and the first target was Opera House, once famed for evening entertainment and now known as a hub for diamond traders.
The other soft spots were rippling with the features terrorists feast on: the rush-hour crowd at jewellery belt Zaveri Bazaar and shoppers milling around Dadar's Kabutar Khana, the pigeon-feeding haven so indelibly etched in Mumbai's memory.
By the time the three bombs — the most powerful at Opera House and the other two low-intensity improvised devices — had vented their fury, Mumbai was again staring at the numbing signs it has grown used to. Bodies and torn limbs lying among glass — and the incredible sight of "diamonds lying on the road".
The death toll at midnight: 21 dead, 141 injured. Eight of the dead were identified till late tonight: Himmatbhai Kalubhai Gudiya (49), Lalchand Ahuja (45), Mohan Nair (46), Tushar Rameshchandra Shah (48), Sanjay Mehta (38), Sandip Champaklal Shah (38), Mohammed Darodia and Sunil Kumar Jain. The Mumbai civic body said four of the dead had been accounted for through body parts.
Among the injured is one Pradip Jana, 31, but it was not clear if he hails from eastern India.
Mumbai's catastrophe clock has ticked past 28 explosions and one siege in 19 years. (See chart on Page 4). The last attack was nearly three years ago on November 26, 2008, though the scale and sweep of that rampage ensured that the shadow never lifted over the metropolis, the memory jogged by the German Bakery blasts in Pune last year.
The toll in this evening's triple attack has already crossed that in Pune (17), making it the biggest strike since 26/11.
But security analysts surmised that improvised explosive devices, suggestive of local perpetrators rather than better-assisted foreign terrorists, were ignited. At least one motorbike was used in the co-ordinated attacks.
"This tactic is much more in line with those used by more amateurish groups such as the Indian Mujahideen who have targeted crowded urban areas before," Stratfor, a strategic affairs thinktank, said in a statement.
Amateurs or not, the terrorists appear to have picked the three spots with care to ensure maximum devastation of life. The attacks centred mainly on Mumbai's jewellery trading centres and they were timed to mow down the peak-hour crowd.
Initial reports had suggested the first blast took place at Zaveri Bazaar but the additional chief secretary (home), Umesh Sarangi, later said Opera House took the first hit at 6.54pm.
At Opera House, the bomb went off when people, mostly traders from Gujarat or with associates there, were pouring out for an evening bite on a street aptly named Khau Galli.
At least one trader said he saw diamonds on the road. "We came outside and the area was filled with black smoke. There were bodies lying all over the street, there was lots of blood.… We saw many bodies missing arms and missing legs," said Aagam Doshi, the trader. "We began getting the wounded on to motorcycles of diamond merchants.… There were diamonds lying on the road everywhere."
Zaveri Bazaar, the target of repeated terror strikes and the country's largest bullion market, too, was teeming with traders from Gujarat and the explosion took place when they usually step out. In the 7/11 train attacks, too — the fifth anniversary of which fell two days ago — many diamond merchants were among the 200 victims.
In Dadar, the targeted victims appeared to be residents who were on the streets to shop. "When I heard of the blast, I tried to call because I knew my husband was in Dadar. Next thing I know someone picked up the phone and said he was admitted to KEM (hospital) so I came here," said Rinku Vishwakarma. "I have no idea how badly he is injured. I'm looking frantically for help from someone."
The explosive device in Zaveri Bazaar was sheltered under an umbrella, probably to shield it from rain. A downpour that gained strength soon after the blast raised questions if evidence could have been washed away. Officials said forensic investigators had already reached the sites, though some evidence could be affected. The police are also banking on street surveillance footage.
The Dadar West bomb was concealed in a meter box of the electric cabinet of a BEST bus stop.
"This is another attack on the heart of India, heart of Mumbai. We will fully meet the challenge, we are much better prepared than 26/11," chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said.
Union home minister P. Chidambaram, who is heading to Mumbai, said "terrorists" were to blame.
President Barack Obama strongly condemned the attacks and offered support to bring the perpetrators to justice. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said she would go ahead with her visit to New Delhi next week for a security dialogue. "I will be travelling to India next week as planned. I believe it is more important than ever that we stand with India," she said.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani swiftly condemned the blasts in a statement. (See P4 & Sport)
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