At least two persons were killed and 25 others injured when a powerful bomb ripped through a bus in Indian city Bombay suburb of Ghatkopar Monday night.

The bomb, suspected to have been planted underneath a seat of the Bombay Electricity Supply and Transport Underatking (BEST) bus, went off at around 2115 hours near Ghatkopar telephone exchange, police said.

Mumbai Police Commissioner R S Sharma said that the blast left two persons dead and 25 wounded.

Witnesses said that the blast occurred in the rear portion of the bus plying on Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg in Ghatkopar. Another bus coming from the opposite direction was damaged by splinters from the targeted vehicle.

The blast also damaged motorcycles and auto rickshaws parked in the vicinity and shook nearby buildings forcing people to scurry out in panic.

However, unconfirmed reports put the death toll at three.

The impact of the explosion was such that it could be heard within a radius of two kilometers, according to the Press Trust of India.

Sharma said that an alert has been sounded across Bombay and other cities of the country, including Delhi.

Asked if any insurgent outfit was suspected behind the explosion, he said, "We can't say anything right now."

This is the second blast in a BEST bus in Ghatkopar in seven months. The previous incident in December last year killed two persons.

(China Daily  July 29, 2003)