Terror haunts Zaveri Bazar again

Mumbai was, on July 13, rocked by serial explosions, two days after the fifth anniversary of the 7/11 train blasts. The three blasts took place in Opera House, Zaveri Bazaar and Dadar at around 7.15 pm.

Zaveri Bazaar is the bustling jewelry market and a major hub for B2B jewelry industry in the Island City of India. The congested Zaveri Bazar has a number of shops located in its narrow lanes and is often abuzz with activity and heavy footfalls throughout the year that makes it difficult for people to move.

The maximum casualties in Wednesday's blasts in Mumbai are reported from famous jewellery market Zaveri Bazar, which has been on the radar of terrorists for almost two decades now with their first attempt made in 1993.

The posh south Mumbai market was first targeted in August 1993 when 13 serial blasts rocked the country's financial capital killing 257 people and injuring over 700 others. The police had then succeeded in defusing a bomb kept in a scooter parked at Zaveri Bazar.

Four to five cars have been badly damaged in south Mumbai's Zaveri Bazaar near the famous Mumbadevi temple where the first blast occured.

The NIA team, the bomb investigation unit of NSG and the forensics team of CFSL rushed to Mumbai. The NSG in Delhi has also been put on standby.

Eyewitnesses at Zaveri Bazar - where initial investigations revealed that an improvised explosive device (IED) had been concealed in an umbrella - said dozens of people were thrown to the ground from the impact of the blast. Meanwhile, Home Minister P Chidambaram has called a high-level meeting in the wake of Mumbai serial blasts.

Mumbai bounces back to life just over twelve hours after three blasts shook the city, as people responded splendidly to the latest terror strike. Even as heavy rain lashes Mumbai, a milk man continues his business at Zaveri Bazar.

Life bounces back to normal in Zaveri Bazar after the bomb blast fortnight. In this pic people who work at Zaveri Bazar wait for the shops to open in Mumbai on Thursday, July 14, 2011.