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I was at my shop unaware of the bomb blasts , later we came to know and I posted an article from a Msn story , there was total chaos, I closed shop came home was watching the blood curdling images on TV when at about 10 pm I carried my camera and rushed to the Bandra station blast site close to my home, it was really bad, the eerie atmosphere , the pain that collectively hit all of us in the gut . From Bandra I took a cab , but the cops had stopped all traffic at St Micheals Church, so I walked through Mori Road shot the Mahim Blasts.
From Mahim tired drenched in my sweat, watched suspiciously by the cops and my Bandra Samachar Press Card like a talisman , I thanked my patron Saint Clarence Gomes who gave me this card..of his paper.
From Mahim I walked to Matunga , which was really bad damage done to the trains, here the cops caught me but let me go, I shot several frames, took a cab home at 2.30 am.Washed rushed to Bhabha Hospital , was not allowed to shoot pictures here , met Mr Baba Siddiqui local MLA than came to my shop and posted these pictures on Buzznet and Bloggerspot..
This one photo shoot I will never forget nor will the brave citizens of Mumbai..
The Mumbaikar even the migrant Mumbaikar stood his ground fearless , death did not scare him, next morning he wasback commuting by train to his place of work.. this is my new series.
I copy an article of CNN to give you proper facts as reported by them...on that inauspicious day


At least 174 killed in Indian train blasts
Tuesday, July 11, 2006; Posted: 10:12 p.m. EDT (02:12 GMT)

Prime minister says 'terrorists' behind attacks


MUMBAI, India (CNN) -- A series of seven explosions killed at least 174 people on crowded commuter trains and stations Tuesday evening in the Indian financial capital of Mumbai, police said.

Officials said at least 464 people were injured in the blasts in the city's western suburbs as commuters made their way home. All seven blasts came within an 11-minute span, between 6:24 and 6:35 p.m. (12:54 and 1:05 p.m. GMT).

Analysts are comparing the attack with the mass transit bombings in Madrid in 2004 and London last year, saying they all involved a series of mutiple blasts and were well-coordinated.

There was some confusion about the number of dead and injured as information was compiled from hospitals and explosion sites in Mumbai, the west Indian seaport previously called Bombay.

"There still are bodies being recovered," said Pooja Saxena, with the International Federation of the Red Cross, speaking early Wednesday.

CNN-IBN correspondent Jency Jacob was aboard one of the trains during the attacks.

"People started running helter-skelter and started jumping from the train," Jacob said. (Watch rescuers pull victims from wrecked trains -- 1:59)

"When I jumped from the train, I saw that the first-class compartment was totally ripped apart and people were hanging from the train. There are some people who were thrown out from the train and they were lying on the track, bleeding completely." (Read a full account of the horror Jacob witnessed)

One person was arrested in New Delhi in police raids after the explosions, reported CNN-IBN, CNN's sister network, but there's been no claim of responsibility for the attacks.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged calm and said the attacks were "shocking and cowardly attempts to spread a feeling of fear and terror."

"I reiterate our commitment to fighting terror in all its forms," he said in a written statement.

U.S. officials said suspicion fell on two Islamic terrorist groups whose focus has been on the disputed territory of Kashmir -- Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.

Both groups have been implicated in attacks that involved coordinated bombings during peak times in India, the officials said.

It may be no coincidence that the attacks occurred just ahead of the Group of Eight summit of world leaders that begins Saturday in St. Petersburg, Russia, said Sajjan Gohel, director of international security for the Asia-Pacific Foundation.

Last year's July 7 terror bombings in London that killed 52 people came as UK Prime Minister Tony Blair was hosting the G8 summit in Scotland and one day after London was awarded the 2012 Olympics, Gohel told CNN International.

Both the 2005 London bombings and the 2004 Madrid bombings, that killed 191 people, were directed against rush hour commuters on mass transit systems.

"This time again, they're (terrorists) trying to show that they are live, active. They want attention, they want the focus," Gohel said. "It was a coordinated, multiple, simultaneous mass casualty atrocity. This is the hallmark of a powerful transnational group."

Gohel noted that at least one of Tuesday's attacks targeted a first-class commuter car, and police were looking at that carriage to see if it might yield clues. The names of those aboard would have been known beforehand -- as opposed to regular computers.

Dana Dillon, a senior policy analyst in the Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center, said if Indians believed a Pakistani militant group was behind the bombings, it could disrupt two and a half years of dialogue between the countries that has led to a de-escalation of troops and other positive moves.

"If this terrorist attack messes that up, it could be catastrophic to the region," Dillon said.

'Limbs lying everywhere'
The blasts hit trains or platforms at the Khar, Mahim, Matunga, Jogeshwari, Borivili and Bhayander stations. The seventh explosion struck a train between the Khar and Santacruz stations, a police official told CNN-IBN.

Police also found and defused another bomb at the Borivili station, according to CNN-IBN. (Train map)

Video footage from a train station showed people in bloodstained clothes receiving medical treatment, while others were carrying victims and some lying motionless near railroad tracks. Windows of a train appeared to be spattered with blood.

At least one train was split in half.

Jacob said after his train was attacked he moved toward the back of the train where he "could see some explosives, some pipes that were falling down. The police were investigating that. It seems to be that the explosive was packed off in pipes and kept in the first class men's compartment."

A CNN-IBN correspondent who was on one of the trains said it was leaving a station when the blast occurred. People jumped and were killed as the train hit them.

"Limbs [are] lying everywhere, bodies [were] cleared from the tracks by local business owners who rushed from their shops," the correspondent said.

Another CNN-IBN correspondent reported seeing 15 bodies at the Matunga station.

People living almost two miles (three kilometers) away from the Borivili station said they heard the blast.

The Western Railway system -- which 4.5 million people use daily -- was shut down and Mumbai's subway system put on high alert after the blasts. Police in the capital of New Delhi also heightened security.

Airports across India were put on high alert, too.

Blasts appear to follow terrorist pattern
U.S. officials said the blasts followed a pattern of initiated by the two main Islamic Kashmiri separatist terrorist groups.

Kashmiri separatists were blamed for twin car-bombings that killed 53 people in Mumbai in August 2003 as well as an attack on the Indian parliament in Delhi in 2001.

In March 1993, more than 250 people were killed when at least 13 bombs were detonated around Mumbai. That attack followed a wave of fighting between India's Hindu and Muslim communities.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf strongly condemned the attacks, and a statement released by his country's Foreign Ministry called them a "despicable act of terrorism."

"Terrorism is the bane of our times and it must be condemned, rejected and countered effectively and comprehensively," the statement said.

Earlier Tuesday, a grenade attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed at least four people. Authorities suspect militants are responsible for that attack on a minibus in Srinagar. There was no immediate indication of a connection to the Mumbai blasts.

Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil said the government had some advance knowledge that such an attack might take place. "What we didn't have was the place and the time," Patil said.

www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/07/11/mumbai.blasts/

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11 July 2006 Mumbai Train Bombings
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings were a series of seven bomb blasts that took place over a period of 11 minutes on the Suburban Railway in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and India's financial capital. 209 people lost their lives and over 700 were injured in the attacks. According to the Indian police the bombings were carried out by Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Students Islamic Movement of India.[1]

Pressure cookers with 2.5kg of RDX each [4], were placed on trains plying on the western line of the suburban ("local") train network, which forms the backbone of the city's transport network. The first blast reportedly took place at 18:24 IST (12:54 UTC), and the explosions continued for approximately eleven minutes, until 18:35,[2] during the after-work rush hour. All the bombs had been placed in the first-class "general" compartments (some compartments are reserved for women, called "ladies" compartments) of several trains running from Churchgate, the city-centre end of the western railway line, to the western suburbs of the city. They exploded at or in the near vicinity of the suburban railway stations of Matunga Road, Mahim, Bandra, Khar Road, Jogeshwari, Bhayandar and Borivali.[3][4]


Map showing the 'Western line' and blast locations.Home Minister Shivraj Patil told reporters that authorities had "some" information an attack was coming, "but place and time was not known".[5] will

The bomb attacks in Mumbai came hours after a series of grenade attacks in Srinagar, the largest city in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. However, Home Secretary V K Duggal said there was no link between the Srinagar and Mumbai bomb blasts.[6]


[edit] Injuries and fatalities
11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings
Confirmed casualties Train Blast location Carriage type Time (IST) Deaths Injured Sources
Travelling north
from Churchgate Khar Road - Santacruz First Class 18:24
17:50 Fast Local
Churchgate-Borivali Bandra - Khar Road First Class 18:24
17:37 Slow Local
Churchgate-Borivali Jogeshwari (PF #1) First Class 18:25
17:54 Fast Local
Churchgate-Borivali Mahim Junction (PF #3) First Class 18:26
Travelling north
from Churchgate Mira Road - Bhayandar First Class 18:29
17:57 Fast Local
Churchgate-Virar Matunga Road - Mahim Junction First Class 18:30
17:37 Fast Local
Churchgate-Virar Borivali (PF #4)1 First Class 18:35
Total 11 minutes 209 714 [7]
1 One bomb exploded at this location, but another one was found by police and defused.[2]


Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R. R. Patil confirmed that a total of 200 people were killed and another 714 others have been injured.[8] Additionally, various news organisations have reported that at least 200 people have died and that more than 700 others have been injured.[9][10][11][12][13]

A week after the blasts in Mumbai the confirmed death toll rose to 207.[14]

In September of 2006 it was confirmed that the death toll had risen to 209.[15]


[edit] Response
11 July 2006
Mumbai Train Bombings


Articles
Reactions
Investigations
See also
Mumbai Suburban Railway
This box: view • talk • edit
A state of high alert was declared in India's major cities. Both the airports in Mumbai were placed on high alert. The western line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway network was at first shut down, although some trains resumed service later, and stringent security arrangements, including frisking and searching of commuters, were instituted on the other lines of the network. The city's bus service, the BEST, pressed extra buses into service to transport stranded commuters home.[16]

The Prime Minister also held a security meeting at his residence attended by Home Minister Shivraj Patil, National Security Advisor M K Narayanan, and Home Secretary V K Duggal.[17]


[edit] Resumption of services and return to normality
Western Railway services were restored on 11 July by 10.45 pm.[18] As a show of investor confidence, the Mumbai Stock Exchange rebounded, starting the day with the BSE Sensex Index up by nearly 1% in morning trade. Foreign investors also retained confidence, with the Sensex up almost 3% at 10,930.09 at the end of the day's trade.


[edit] Rescue and relief operations
Initial rescue efforts were hampered by the heavy rains and the prevalent monsoon flooding, but quickly took momentum after fellow passengers and bystanders helped victims to reach waiting ambulances and/or provided first aid.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh announced ex-gratia payments of Rs 1,00,000 (approx. US$2,200) to the next of kin of those who died in the explosion. The injured would be given Rs 50,000 (approx. US$1,100) each.[6]
Indian Railways announced Rs 5,00,000 (approx. US$10,000) compensation and a job to the next of kin of those killed in the serial blasts in Mumbai. The announcements were made by Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav after visiting those injured in the blasts at a hospital in Mumbai.[19]
However a study commissioned by former MP Kirit Somaiya noted that that only 174 of the 1,077 victims had received compensation through the Railway Claims Tribunal. For the handicapped victims, only 15 out of 235 eligible cases had been taken care of. Regarding the Prime Minister's promise to India concerning the rehabilitation of the victims, L. K. Advani noted:

“ none of the above mentioned assurances has been fulfiled to any degree of satisfaction[20] ”


[edit] Sources of information
Due to the mobile phone networks being jammed, news channels such as NDTV ran tickertapes with information of injured individuals as well as SMS messages from those who wish to contact their families.[21] Reports indicated that at around 18:00 UTC on 11 July (midnight in Mumbai), the phone networks were restoring service; telephone service was completely restored during the night.

Mumbai Help, a blog run by around thirty bloggers, was a useful source of information, especially for those outside India.


[edit] Impact

[edit] Heightened security measures
In wake of the blasts, the Indian government tightened security in railway stations. Under new restrictions passed by the Ministry of Railways, non-passengers would no longer be allowed on the railway platforms after July 2006. Other major security steps include installation of close circuit televisions inside the stations for round-the-clock vigil and installation of metal detectors.[22]


[edit] Setback for the India-Pakistan peace process
Following the bomb attacks, Minister of State of External Affairs E. Ahamed announced on 14 July that India would suspend the talks with Pakistan until President Pervez Musharraf abides by his 2004 promise of ending all support to cross-border terrorism.[23] However, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has conveyed India's willingness to be flexible with Pakistan following Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's statements that ending the three-year long peace process would signal a victory for the separatist terrorists.[24]

On 16 September at the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Havana Cuba, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pervez Musharraf made a joint statement announcing that the two countries would resume formal peace negotiations and set up a joint agency to tackle terrorism.[25]


[edit] Statements in response
Main article: Statements in response to the 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings
Various senior political figures from India and around the world condemned the attacks. In India, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh was quick to call for calm in Mumbai, while President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, and president of the Indian National Congress Sonia Gandhi also issued statements regarding the bombings in Mumbai. Officials from other nations offered their condolences to those affected by the bombings. Officials from Pakistan, which has long feuded with India, and the United Kingdom, which was the target of similar attacks the previous July, were among those who denounced the attacks in Mumbai as well as terrorism as a whole. Several terrorist groups, including Lashkar-e-Toiba and al-Qaeda, made comments — both in condemnation and condonation — about the attacks as well.


[edit] Memorial service
A memorial service was held in Mumbai on 18 July at 6:25 pm local time — exactly one week after the blasts. President APJ Abdul Kalam, his hand raised to his forehead in salute, led the two-minute silence as people lit candles and placed wreaths at Mahim station, one of the seven places on the suburban rail network hit by bombs. Sirens sounded across Mumbai marking the memorial service. People gathered at the site of the blasts, in railway stations on the city's Western Line and millions of people stopped talking, traffic came to a halt and cinemas interrupted films as a city that never stops observed a silence for bombing victims.


[edit] Investigation
Image:Cooker Bombs 16Oct06.jpg [5]

Main article: Mumbai serial train blasts investigations
Some 350 people were detained 36 hours after the incident in Maharashtra - police claim that these are people rounded up for investigations.[26] On 14 July, Lashkar-e-Qahhar, a terrorist organisation possibly linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed responsibility for the bombings. In an e-mail to an Indian TV channel, the outfit says it organised the bombings using 16 people who are all "safe". According to the e-mail, the main motive seems to have been a retaliation to the situation in the Gujrat and Kashmir regions, possibly referring to the alleged oppression of Muslim minorities in certain parts of the region. It also says that the blasts were part of a series of attacks aimed at other sites such as the Mumbai international airport, Gateway of India, the Taj Mahal in Agra and the Red Fort in New Delhi. The authorities are investigating this claim and are trying to track the location of the e-mail sender.[27] However, on 17 July, the forensic science laboratory Mumbai has confirmed the use of a mixture of the highly explosive RDX and Ammonium Nitrate for the bombings. The presence of these explosives in the post explosive debris was confirmed by modern techniques such as Liquid Chromatography with mass detector (LCMS), Gas Chromatography with mass detector (GCMS) and Ion Scan Chromatography. They have indicated a strong possibility of all explosives being planted at the Churchgate railway station, which was the starting point for all affected trains.[28]

Initially, religious extremists from the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the banned Students Islamic Movement of India terrorist groups, and Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI were the prime suspects.[29][30] Both Lashkar and SIMI denied responsibility for the bombings.[31][32] There was also evidence about the involvement of the international Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda following a phone call from a man claiming to be a spokesperson for the group on 13 July. The alleged al-Qaeda spokesman had said the blasts were a "consequence of Indian oppression and suppression of minorities, particularly Muslims."[33]

On September 30, 2006 CNN reported that "The Indian government accused Pakistan's military spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, of planning the July 11 Mumbai train bombings that killed 209 people".[34]


[edit] Arrests
On 21 July 2006 police arrested three people suspected to be involved in the bombings.[35] Police have detained more than 300 suspects since 18 July but these are the first arrests in the case.[36] Two of the men were detained on Thursday in the northern state of Bihar and the third later in Mumbai.[37][38] All three are said to belong to the banned SIMI organisation. On the same day, Abdul Karim Tunda was arrested in Kenya on suspicions of involvement in the train bombings.[39] He is one of India's most wanted men and also a suspected organizer for the banned Islamic militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba.[40]


[edit] Forced Confessions
In late 2006, all the seven key accused in the Mumbai train blasts in July retracted their alleged confession to the police, saying they were illegally forced to sign blank papers, an Indian TV channel reported.[6][7] The forced confessions, extracted apparently by torture, were later used by the Indian government to implicate Pakistan.

It should be noted that this implication was of importance to the investigation.


[edit] Investigation updates
The Indian National Security Advisor M K Narayanan has said that India doesn't have "clinching" evidence of the involvement of Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI in the Mumbai train blasts of July 11.

"I would hesitate to say we have clinching evidence but we have pretty good evidence," he was quoted as saying on CNN-IBN.

Following Narayanan's remarks, the Union Home Secretary V.K. Duggal on Monday characterised the evidence as "very good [...] it is fairly solid evidence,".

[8]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11_July_2006_Mumbai_train_bombings

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Tags:   7/11 Mumbai train blasts

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193,501 items / 1,559,989 views

And we shoot
pictures barefeet ..
we show blood
sweat tears
crushed metal
bombed trains
the Indian spirit
of survival
in a heartbeat
no fucked jehadi
could unseat
cross border terrorism
our will our strength
could not defeat
a teri mako chodoo
is how the common man
the terrorist greet
from the soul of mumbai
with resounding action
their evil notion
our Mumbai cops delete
a picture a poem
a memory a thought
concise and complete

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it is tough shooting pictures dressed like me..

Tags:   7/11 Mumbai train blasts bandra

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