Strike paralyses Bombay

Strike paralyses Bombay

INDIA: A strike over a deadly bus bombing in Bombay paralyzed
India's commercial hub on Wednesday, halting public transport and
slashing trade in the city's financial markets.

A bomb ripped through a bus in a northeastern suburb of Bombay
on Monday, killing two people and wounding 47 others -- the
latest in a wave of blasts in the city since December.

Hundreds of activists from Shiv Sena and Prime Minister Atal
Behari Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party fanned out across the
city at dawn, squatting on railway tracks and throwing stones at
private vehicles that had ventured out.

The parties, the main opposition groups of Maharashtra state,
of which Bombay is the capital, called the strike to protest
against what they said was the state government's failure to
prevent the bombings in the city of nearly 13 million people.

A bomb in March blew apart a packed rush-hour train, killing
12 people and wounding 75. A bus bombing in December killed three
and injured 26. --Reuters