September 14, 2008	Sunday	Ramazan 13, 1429

NEW DELHI, Sept 13: At least five bombs exploded in quick succession in crowded markets and streets in the heart of New Delhi on Saturday, killing at least 22 people and injuring scores more, police said.

The Indian Mujahideen militant group, which has claimed several major attacks in recent months, sent an email to television stations, saying it was responsible for the blasts.

Police and witnesses said that two bombs went off in dustbins in and around Connaught Place, a shopping and dining area popular with tourists and locals in the centre of the city. Others exploded within minutes of each other in busy markets around the city.

The weekend was a particularly busy one ahead of Hindu and Muslim festivals.

The militant group’s email mentioned nine bombs. Police said they had found and defused three.

A Delhi government official who visited some of the injured in hospital with the president of the ruling Congress party, Sonia Gandhi, put the death toll at 22, while estimates of the number of injured ranged from 90 to 155.

“I can just say that these blasts have been planned by the enemies of the country and they will be taught a lesson,” junior home minister Sriprakash Jaiswal told reporters .

Arun Jaitley, a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, told the NDTV channel that the profile of the bombers had changed over the past three years and attacks could no longer be blamed on outsiders.

“Home-grown terrorists are on the increase,” he said. “We cannot shut our eyes to that reality.”

Many streets that would normally have been bustling on a Saturday night quickly emptied after news of the attacks.

One bomb exploded in a newly-constructed park in the centre of the Connaught Place roundabout, built above one of the main stations of the Delhi Metro. Police closed down the Metro and major markets in the city as a precaution.

Another bomb went off in a dustbin near a metro station entrance on an arterial road leading into the area, housing the offices of several foreign banks and multinational companies.

Other attacks came in the Ghaffar Market area of Karol Bagh, full of electronics shops and packed at weekends, and in Greater Kailash 1, home to restaurants and high-end retail outlets.

Broadcasts showed wrecked cars and mangled motorbikes alongside personal belongings, some of them bloodstained, and abandoned shoes.

Wounded people were shown being carried away by rescuers, one leaving a trail of blood on the ground.

Hundreds of people milled around as police cordoned off the sites of explosions, many of them angry with the authorities.

In a hospital bed, Gulab Singh, his head bandaged, wailed at the death of his two-year-old grandson.

“We were all sitting around the parking lot when suddenly there was a huge blast. We did not know what happened. My world has changed,” Singh said, crying inconsolably.—Agencies