More bombs found in Surat

Seven more bombs were found in this south Gujarat city Tuesday by the afternoon, taking the number of unexploded bombs found here in the past three days to 12. The first lot had been found Sunday, a day after serial blasts in Ahemdabad killed at least 50 people and injured 200.

Four bombs were found on Sunday and one late Monday evening. More unexploded bombs could pop up before the day ends, said a police constable.

Most of the bombs found here Tuesday were in the Varacha area. The first was found in the morning behind the Labeshwar police post when a provision store owner was opening his shop at about 9 a.m. As he was pushing his shutters up a packet fell down. He immediately called the police. Police inspector V.B. Patel reached the spot with the bomb disposal and dog squads.

A little while later another bomb was found near Baroda bridge in Santoshnagar area close to a garment shop, Mahavir Fashion. The bomb was placed inside an electric meter box. It was defused. Both bombs were found within an hour and defused.

On Tuesday afternoon, another bomb was found on the branches of a peepul tree close to the Matawadi police post in the Varacha area and defused. Even as the cops were heaving a sigh of relief, they had to rush to Varacha's mini diamond market where four more bombs four. All four were defused.

The bomb found late Monday night was also in the Labeshwar area. All the bombs found in the neighbourhood were planted withing a kilometre of one another.

None of the bombs found in Surat so far has exploded, leading to all sorts of theories here on whether the city was being used as a staging post and a cache by the terrorists on their way to Ahmedabad.