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