Jaipur: : Severed limbs, mangled heaps of cycle rickshaws, bicycles and smashed windscreens of cars turned the crowded markets crammed with shoppers in the walled part of the Pink City into a virtual war zone minutes after the serial bomb blasts.

“We heard a big sound and what was left was a plume of smoke and blood all around,” said an injured eyewitness as he was taken to a hospital.

Scores of injured people were ferried to three hospitals soon after the blasts hit Tripolia Bazar, where a large number of devotees had turned up at the Hanuman Temple nearby, Johari Bazar, Manank Chowk, Badi Choupad and Choti Choupad in the walled part of the city.

This is the first time that the tourist hotspot of Jaipur has figured on the terror hit list.

Within minutes of the blast, one could see siren-blaring ambulances and vehicles zipping through the bylanes. The blasts triggered a near-stampede as panic-stricken people ran helter skelter in search of a safe place.

People were also seen carrying the injured as the number of ambulances fell far short of the requirement. The nearby hospitals were crowded as relatives thronged to look for their near and dear ones.

At one blast site, the body of a newly-wed woman, dressed in a bright red sari with the traditional chuda on her wrists, lay on the road. Another young man hung out of a rickshaw with his head turned back and his face smeared with blood.

Johri Bazar, one of the biggest shopping markets which was rocked by the blasts, lay strewn with bangles and mangled rickshaws. Also strewn around were shopping bags, blood-stained sandals and shoes of victims.

At Sawai Mansing Hospital, the emergency ward was splattered with blood as scores of dead and injured were taken there. Drenched in blood, people were seen running with their mobile phones glued to their ears informing their kin about their condition.

A pool of blood lay outside the Hanuman Temple. Within minutes, the whole temple complex and the market were cleared of the crowd as people ran for safety. Police were seen warning people against touching any unidentified or unclaimed objects.

TERROR TRAIL

2008, Jan 1: The year started with an attack by LeT militants on a CRPF training centre at Rampur in Uttar Pradesh. Seven CRPF personnel and a civilian killed. Militants escape under cover of darkness.

2007, Nov 23:

Simultaneous blasts rock three Uttar Pradesh cities of Varanasi, Faizabad and Lucknow. 15 people killed.

Oct 13: Blast in Ludhiana’s Shingar cinema hall leaves six dead.

Oct 11: Ajmer Dargah targeted by militants. Two persons killed.

Aug 25: Twin explosions rock Hyderabad. 44 people killed.

May 18: Bomb blast at Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad kills 11 people.

Feb 19: Indo-Pak Samjhauta Express hit by terror blasts. 68 people including Pakistani nationals killed.

2006, Sept 8: Twin blasts at a mosque in Malegaon. 30 dead and 100 hurt.

July 11: Seven bombs on Mumbai’s trains kill over 200 and injure 700 others.

March 7: Twin bombings at a train station and a temple in Varanasi kill 20.

2005, Oct 29: Three bombs placed in busy New Delhi markets a day before Diwali kill 62 and injure hundreds.