Six consecutive serial blasts rocked

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

and

Faizabad Faizabad (Hindustani pronunciation: ɛːzaːbaːd is a city situated near the southern banks of Saryu river in Ayodhya district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The area of this Faizabad region is administered by Ayodhya Municipal Corpor ...

courts in

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

on 23 November 2007 afternoon in a span of 25 minutes, in which reportedly many people were killed and several others injured. Bombs were explicitly targeted to the lawyers who were working in courts premises at these cities. The first blast occurred in Varanasi civil court and

collectorate A District Collector-cum-District Magistrate (also known as Deputy Commissioner in some states) is an civil service, All India Service officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) cadre who is responsible for ''land revenue collection'', ...

premises between 13:05 and 13:07 pm. Two successive blasts occurred in Faizabad district court around 13:12 and 13:15, closely followed by one at Lucknow at 13:32. In December 2019, 2 (Tariq Quasim and Mohammad Akhtar) of the 4 accused were given a life sentence by a special anti-terror court in Faizabad for carrying out the attacks under the

Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act is an Indian law aimed at prevention of unlawful activities associations in India. Its main objective was to make powers available for dealing with activities directed against the integrity and sovereignty o ...

, while one was acquitted and another had died in police custody.

Lucknow blasts

two bomb were found one triggered panic after explosion and other unexploded powerful live bomb was deactivated by bomb disposal squads. Both the bombs were planted in

bicycles A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

in civil court premises. Lucknow blast was mildest among all other blasts in Faizabad and Varanasi.

Varanasi blasts

Three consecutive blasts claimed the most lives in

; at least 11 people were killed, including four lawyers and 42 injured. Bombs were tied to

which exploded around 13:05–13:15.

Faizabad blasts

Two successive blasts occurred in

, which were strongest among all. In these blasts at least four people were killed on the spot, and about 15 were injured.

Terror mail just before blasts

A little-known group

Indian Mujahidin Indian Mujahideen (IM) is an Islamic terrorist group which has been particularly active in India. The jihadist group was founded as an offshoot of the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) by several radicalized members including Iqbal Bh ...

has claimed responsibility of these blasts. This group apparently sent an email to some private TV channels just five minutes before the blasts. This email says the

jihad Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with Go ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

is in retaliation against the injustice to

Muslims in India Islam is India's second-largest religion, with 14.2% of the country's population, approximately 172.2 million people identifying as adherents of Islam in 2011 Census. India is also the country with the second or third largest number of Muslim ...

, the demolition of the

Babri Masjid Babri Masjid (IAST: Bābarī Masjid; meaning ''Mosque of Babur'') was a mosque in Ayodhya, India, at a site believed by many Hindus to be the birthplace of Hindu deity Rama. It has been a focus of dispute between the Hindu and Muslim communi ...

and the Gujarat riots. Indian Mujahideen also claimed responsibility for the blasts in Delhi and Hyderabad but refused any association with the attacks on the

Mecca Masjid Makkah Masjid or Mecca Masjid, is a congregational mosque in Hyderabad, India. It is one of the largest mosques in India with a capacity of 10,000 people. The mosque was built during the 17th century, and is a state-protected monument. It se ...

, the

Samjhauta Express The Samjhauta Express () was a bi-weekly train — Thursday and Monday — that runs between Delhi and Attari in India and Lahore in Pakistan. The word ''Samjhauta'' means "agreement", "accord" and "compromise" in both Hindi and Urdu. Unti ...

and the 2006 Malegaon blasts.

HuJI's hand suspected

Investigating agencies suspect the hand of

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

based terrorist outfit

Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami ( ar, حركة الجهاد الإسلامي, ''Ḥarkat al-Jihād al-Islāmiyah'', meaning "Islamic Jihad Movement", HuJI) is a Pakistani Islamic fundamentalist Jihadist organisation affiliated with Al-Qaeda and Talib ...

(HuJI) pointsman who goes by the name Guru has emerged as a prime suspect. Intelligence agencies suspect that Guru may have planned the attacks executed by sleeper cells of

Lashkar-e-Taiba Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT; ur, ; literally ''Army of the Good'', translated as ''Army of the Righteous'', or ''Army of the Pure'' and alternatively spelled as ''Lashkar-e-Tayyiba'', ''Lashkar-e-Toiba'', ''Lashkar-i-Taiba'', ''Lashkar-i-Tayyeba'') ...

and

Jaish-e-Mohammed Jaish-e-Mohammed ( ur, , literally "The Army of Muhammad", abbreviated as JeM) is a Pakistan-based: "The JEM is a Pakistan-based, militant Islamic group founded by Maulana Masood Azhar in March 2000." Deobandi: "Deobandis like Masood Azha ...

possibly under the banner of al-Qaida-fil-al-Hindi (meaning al-Qaida in India).

Lawyers' strike to protest blasts

Bar Council of

decided to go on strike to protest against these terrorist activities. In the state capital, lawyers moved about in groups in the court compounds and raised slogans against terrorism. The government has tightened security arrangements in the courts throughout the state after the Friday blasts. Lawyers from other states also join state bar council and observing the day as shok diwas.

Reactions

*The Union Home Ministry of India said it's a terrorist strike meant to disturb

communal harmony Communal may refer to: *A commune or also intentional community * Communalism (Bookchin) * Communalism (South Asia), the South Asian sectarian ideologies *Relating to an administrative division called comune *Sociality in animals *Community ownersh ...

. *Uttar Pradesh's

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

condemned serial blasts and announced a compensation of Rs.200,000 to the next of kin to each of those killed and Rs.50,000 for those injured in the incidents. She also said that it is a complete failure of central

intelligence agencies An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of informatio ...

. * The

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...

, Dr. Manmohan Singh condemned serial blasts and announced a compensation of Rs.100,000 from the

Prime Minister's National Relief Fund Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) in India is the fund raised to provide support for people affected by natural and man made disasters. Natural disasters covered under this include flood, cyclone, earthquake etc. Man made disasters in ...

to kin of each of those killed in blasts. *British High Commissioner to India

Richard Stagg Sir Richard Stagg (born 27 September 1955) is a retired British diplomat who was ambassador to Bulgaria, high commissioner to India and ambassador to Afghanistan. Education Charles Richard Vernon Stagg was educated at Winchester College and Or ...

said in a statement ''"We condemn all forms of terrorism. It is a particularly worrying development that the judiciary and the legal system have been attacked. Our thoughts are with the affected families"''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uttar Pradesh bombings 21st-century mass murder in India Mass murder in 2007 Uttar Pradesh serial blasts History of Uttar Pradesh (1947–present) History of Varanasi Improvised explosive device bombings in India Islamic terrorism in India Islamic terrorist incidents in 2007 Terrorist incidents in Uttar Pradesh Indian Mujahideen attacks Faizabad History of Lucknow