TERROR STRIKES MUMBAI AGAIN, AT LEAST 20 KILLED, OVER 113 INJURED

Terror struck Mumbai again when three serial blasts rocked crowded areas of the city this evening killing at least 21 people and injuring about 113 in a grim reminder of the 26/11 attack that left 166 people dead.
Back-to-back IEDs exploded at Zaveri Bazar, Opera House and Dadar in the space of a few minutes from 6.45 PM.
The blast at Opera House was 'very powerful', Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan said.
In New Delhi, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said the death toll could increase, adding there was no report of any other blast or threat.
Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh said about 100 injured have been admitted to various hospitals.
Chidambaram said the explosions occured within minutes of each other from 6.45 pm and from this it can be inferred it is a 'coordinated attack' by terrorists.
The first explosion took place at Shakeel Memon street in south Mumbai's Zaveri Bazaar, near famous Mumbadevi temple, in which at least 25 persons were injured, said Mumbai Police spokesman Nisar Tamboli. An IED hidden under an umbrella caused the blast, officials say.
The bustling market also has a number of jewellery shops. Around 25 people sustained injuries in another blast at Diamond Market near Opera House, also in south Mumbai, while three persons were wounded in yet another explosion at Kabutarkhana in Dadar west in central Mumbai.
Chavan said the injured people have been admitted to St George, Nair and KEM Hospitals. A high alert has been sounded across India following the blasts.
Tragic Zaveri Bazaar
Zaveri Bazaar has been targetted few times before with 54 persons being killed in 2003.
Chavan, who is monitoring the situation from the Mantralaya control room, said ATS personnel were at the scene of the blasts.
He appealed to people of Mumbai to maintain calm and asked them not to be swayed by rumours.
Also, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke to Chief Minister Chavan shortly after the serial blasts shook Mumbai.
NSG personnel and forensic experts have been deployed to the western metropolis in a BSF plane from Delhi.

Today's explosions came two days after the fifth anniversary of the Mumbai serial train blasts in which 186 persons were killed.