BANGALORE, India (Reuters) - Seven low-intensity bombs exploded across the Indian IT city of Bangalore on Friday, killing one person and wounding at least 15, police said.
"In all these cases they have created the blast using timerdevices," Bangalore Commissioner of Police Shankar Bidri toldreporters at the site of one of the blasts. "Explosives havealso been used, in quantity equal to one or two grenades."
Bangalore hosts the bulk of India's IT and outsourcingbusiness and is home to more than 1,500 top firms, includingoffices of large global firms such as Microsoft, Intel Corp andIBM.
M. R. Pujar, additional police commissioner for Bangaloresaid "crude explosives" had been used.
"There were seven low-intensity explosions," he toldReuters. "Some of them were in crowded areas. At least personwas killed and 15 to 20 were injured."
Local TV showed one small shopping stall in Bangalore withbroken windows and its concrete floors broken in pieces. Rubblelittered another site.
India has suffered a wave of bombings in recent years, withtargets ranging from mosques and Hindu temples to trains. Butit is unusual for any group to claim responsibility forattacks.
Islamist militant groups in Pakistan and Bangladesh intenton fanning hatred between Muslims and Hindus in India, anddamaging a fragile peace process between New Delhi andIslamabad, are often blamed for bomb attacks in India.
In May eight bombs, many strapped to bicycles, rippedthrough a crowded shopping area in the western city of Jaipur,killing 61 people and injuring hundreds more.
Police said that attack bore some hallmarks of theBangladeshi militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad al Islami (HuJI).
Indian shares extended losses to more than 3.5 percent onFriday after reports of blasts in the southern city ofBangalore, home to top outsourcers Infosys Technologies andWipro.
At 2:53 p.m. (10:22 a.m. British time), the 30-share BSEindex was down 3.7 percent.
(Reporting by Krittivas Mukherjee)
