Investigators looking into the terrorist bombs that ripped through Mumbai last week are now saying the city’s diamond hub was the actual target of the attack.
According to the Hindustan Times, an unnamed investigator with the Mumbai police says higher security measures at Pancharatna Housing Society and Prasad Chambers, both located near Opera House, may have forced one of the bombs to be placed in an adjoining lane.
A second bomb was detonated at Zaveri Bazaar, where numerous jewellers are located. The third blast went off in Dadar, a crowded street in the heart of Mumbai.
IDEX Online is reporting several diamond brokers are among the 18 people killed. More than 130 people have been injured.
So far, no one has claimed responsibility.
The bombings are the worst incidents of terrorism in Mumbai since 2008 when Pakistan-based militants killed 166 people and injured more than 300 in a siege on the city.
Avi Paz, president of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB), offered his condolences.
“We were shocked to hear about the terrorist bombing attacks that hit Mumbai [and] claimed the lives of so many innocent people, some of them members of the diamond business community in Mumbai,” he said. “On behalf of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses and its affiliated member bourses, I extend our organization’s sincere condolences to the families of the victims and send our best wishes for speedy recovery to the wounded.”
