Home Minister P. Chidambaram today said the death toll in yesterday's Mumbai serial blasts is 18 including that of a severed head which is yet to be identified. 23 of the 131 injured are seriously injured. He said, the condition of some of these people are critical. The Home minister said, all groups that are capable of carrying out such attacks are suspects. He ruled out any intelligence failure. There were no intelligence inputs about yesterday's blast with Central and state agencies. He said, Ammonium nitrate with timer devices were used in the IEDs in Mumbai. The Blasts sites have been cordoned off and people will not be allowed there.Home Minister P Chidambaram expressed deep regret over the Mumbai serial blasts. He said he was sad that the second incident of terror attack has happened after the 26/11 carnage and both have happened in Maharashtra. He said, the Blasts were not aimed at hitting markets, the terror group chose targets with high population density.He said, Inherent difficulties are faced while policing high-density areas. Chidambarm said, every hostile group will be probed and it has been clarified to the Maharashtra Police not to rule out any angle.Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan today took stock of the situation with top police officials who apprised him of the investigations into yesterday's serial blasts. Chavan had last night visited the blast sites along with Home Minister P Chidambaram and spoke to the investigators. Chief Minister Prithiviraj Chavan has announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh rupees for families of the blast victimsThree simultaneous blasts had ripped through crowded areas in Mumbai last evening in a grim reminder of the 26/11 terror blasts that killed 166 people.
News On AIR | July 14, 2011 10:19 AM
Groups capable of carrying out attacks are suspects says HM