It was a routine busy Friday in Mumbai, which had sufficiently recovered from two-rounds of the devastating communal violence of December 1992 and January 1993 in the aftermath of the demolition of the disputed Babri mosque in Ayodhya. The Srikrishna Commission which probed the December-January violence put the toll at 900 dead and around 2,000 injured, most of them Muslims, in police firing and rioting. The commercial capital of India was almost back on its tracks and everybody assumed that the worst was over.
As usual, thousands of office goers had taken trains and buses to reach Fort area, so called after a British fort that stood there 200 years ago, which formed the commercial hub of the city. The heritage buildings in Fort are dotted with offices of big and small corporates, airlines offices, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) headquarters and other banks as well as the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the oldest stock exchange in Asia. Hundreds of brokers and investors were inside the trading ring on the last day of the week, which is meant for settlements. The lunch time was approaching and everybody was waiting for the closing bell at 1.30 pm.
Only two minutes had remained for the trading operations to close when at 1.28 pm, a deafening explosion reverberated across the area. A powerful car bomb exploded in the basement of the BSE. The impact was felt on the 10th floor of the 28-storey office building housing the Exchange which was severely damaged, and many nearby office buildings also suffered. The premises of the Bank of Baroda branch on the ground floor was shattered.
Those in the vicinity were killed instantly by the flying shards of glass and debris; among them were brokers and investors who were leaving the building and crowding around food vendors on Dalal Street. The street was a pool of blood and strewn with limbs. Food items and share certificates lay scattered over the area. Those who survived were drenched in blood of the victims.
Inside BSE the scene was utter chaos; everybody was running for safety. The lifts were still working and others were taking the staircase. There was a stampede and a few of them were trampled to death.
About 30 minutes later, another car bomb exploded elsewhere in the city, and from 1:28 pm to 3:40 pm a total of 13 bombs exploded throughout the city. Most of the bombs were car bombs, but some were in scooters, targetting banks, the Air India building, the Regional Passport Office (RPO) at Worli, Shiv Sena’s headquarters, three five star hotels and a major shopping complex.
Bombs exploded at Zaveri Bazaar, Century Bazaar, Katha Bazaar, Shiv Sena Bhawan and Plaza Theatre. Grenades were also thrown at Sahar International Airport and at a Hindu Fishermen's Colony. A double decker bus was very badly damaged in one of the explosions and that single incident accounted for the greatest loss of life - 113 dead and 227 injured.
Officially, 257 persons died and 713 injured in the deadliest terror strike ever made in the country.
Zaveri Bazaar was once again the target of a terror attack on August 25, 2003, when a bomb left in a taxi exploded there. Another car bomb exploded at the Gateway of India, and the toll in those two attacks was 52 dead. Three years later, on July 13, 2006, the Islamic terrorists planted bombs in first class compartments of seven suburban trains, which killed around 228 commuters.
BSE building
1.28 pm - BSE: The car bomb that exploded in the basement of the BSE building blew up more than 30 cars. There was stampede as brokers and investors inside the building tried to rush out. "There was blood everywhere," the then CEO of the BSE, Mr Mayya, had blurted out. Fiftyone-year-old Gokulchand Gupta was running a panipuri stall outside the BSE building. His head was blown off in the explosion and his only son, 17-year-old Premchand, was burnt to death.
 Five of his assistants too were killed. There were so many like him, running vada-pav stalls, sugarcane juice centre, dosa stall and what not; many of them were killed. Rita Dennis who was working at the Graphica Printers office close to the BSE had come there to buy an afternoon tabloid, but was killed in the attack, leaving behind her two sons and husband.
Soon the police arrived and cordoned off the area.It was the beginning of the tireless rescue work for the fire brigade, led by the Chief Fire Officer Durgadas Kulkarni, whose efforts saved many a victim. The injured were ferried to the nearby GT Hospital, J J hospital and St George Hospital. However, the disaster management strategies were not in place, nor required earlier. The injured were crowded in a hall and were given blood and saline wherever they found place to sit or lay down.
Katha Bazaar
2.15 pm - Katha Bazaar: The large wholesale market for grain and spice at Narsi Natha street near Masjid Bunder station is known as Katha Bazaar and is heavily congested with trucks, LCVs and handcarts crowding the narrow lanes and roads. Two cabs parked side by side suddenly went up in a huge explosion. Several vehicles as well as shops and offices near by were damaged. A public telephone booth, in front of which a scooter laden with RDX bomb was parked, was destroyed in the fire. A father-son duo was passing by; the father died instantly, while the boy suffered serious injuries. The toll - five persons dead and 16 injured.
Air India building
2.25 pm - Air India building: Air India building is the most prominent landmark on the famous Marine Drive, the coastal road also known as “Queen’s Necklace” which is the pride of Mumbai.
An ambassador car parked in the portico of the high-rise went up in a massive explosion which was of a higher intensity than any other blast.
The building houses the headquarters of the national carrier as well as offices of many foreign airlines and banks. There are consulates of several countries in the vicinity. The Bank of Oman branch on the ground floor was gutted in resultant fire. The blast took a toll of 20 persons and injured 87 others.
At that time, mobile phones and pagers were yet to make an appearance and the only mode of communication was MTNL's telephone network. The lines were jammed and the network had already collapsed due to heavy load.
The only other mode was police wireless, and it was through this that the then Governor P C Alexander was informed about the blasts by Police Commissioner Amarjit Singh Samra.
Shiv Sena Bhawan
2.30 pm - Shiv Sena Bhawan: Shiv Sena Bhavan at Dadar in Central Mumbai, where the radical Hindu party's headquarters is located, was next on the target, but it was missed. The terrorists had parked the bomb-laden car at Lucky petrol pump, adjacent to Shiv Sena Bhawan. The can bomb exploded at 2.30 pm but  caused little damage; the Bhawan was not hit. However, a building next to the pump was gutted in the fire.
Four persons, including one John Thomas, who had gone to the petrol pump to refuel his bike and was later identified by the crucifix on his gold chain and wedding ring, were killed in the blast.
Hearing the explosion, irate Shiv Sainiks in the area gathered at the Bhawan in large number and raised anti-Muslim slogans. The situation was getting out of hand and the police feared repeat of the December-January communal violence. The Additional CP Y C Pawar and his deputy DCP Rakesh Maria rushed there to control the situation. DCP Maria invented the tale of a terrorist attack to pacify the crowd, which was baying for the blood of Muslims, and somehow dispersed the Sainiks.
 Later on, it was under Maria’s leadership that the plot was unravelled.
Passport Office
2.55 pm - Passport Office: A jam-packed double-decker bus was passing in front of the Regional Passport Office (RPO), Worli, when something that is seen only in Hollywood action movies happened. There was a huge explosion and the five-ton bus was lifted into the air and crashed on the road. The upper deck was ripped apart and flew into a nearby hutment.
The slum-dwellers were shocked and dazed when pieces of metal and bodies rained on them.
Fire spread to other vehicles on the street; four adjacent buildings too were damaged. There were no survivors in the double-decker; the toll was maximum in the explosion, killing 113 and injuring 227. Fortunately, the passport office itself, which was the obvious target, was not directly hit. A big crater was left on the street, giving clue of the place where the terrorists might have hidden the bomb.
Those who reported the event still recall the gruesome sight of the explosion. A paanwala’s head was severed from his torso and landed on the counter in front of him; the body of a Bata shop manager was found sandwiched between two walls that collapsed on each other; Sudesh Bhandari of the Blue Star laundry died when flying shrapnel pierced his heart.
Two trainee air hostesses at East West Airlines driving down the road in a company car were caught in the blast. The car was destroyed, the driver charred beyond recognition and one of the occupants - Prachee Vartak - died of burns. The stories of gore were unending.
Zaveri Bazaar
3.05 pm - Zaveri Bazaar: The blasts were happening in succession of 10 minutes. A taxi had blown up at the junction of Shaikh Memon Street and Mirza Street, at the southern end of the bullion market known as Zaveri Bazaar in South Mumbai. The explosion was low in intensity but it damaged many jewellery shops and vehicles in the vicinity.  In all 17 were killed and 57 injured, some of them passers-by, like Niwas Garge’s wife and son. The three were walking on the street when the taxi exploded in their face. The woman  was severely burnt and he rushed her to the hospital, but she did not survive.
He could never locate his son. The explosion was traced to a scooter bomb, which was parked in the southern end of Zaveri Bazaar.
Plaza Cinema
3.13 pm - Plaza Cinema: A car bomb exploded at the famed Plaza Cinema at Dadar. Plaza was one of the finest cinema halls and film directors used to take pride in screening their films there. But on that day it was reduced to a rubble. Ten film goers were killed and 37 hurt.
Fishermen’s colony
Fishermen’s Colony: At around the same time, terrorists moving in a Maruti van lobbed hand grenades at the Fishermen's Colony at Mahim, a suburb next to Dadar. The colony was predominantly Hindu and three kolis were killed in the attack. It instantly gave a communal colour to the bombings, and the Muslims in the nearby colony were attacked. Addl CP Pawar, who was at Plaza site, rushed to Mahim and even ordered lathicharge to bring the violent mob under control.
Hotel blasts
3.20 to 3.40 pm - Hotel blasts: The scene had now been shifted to the northwestern suburbs. The high-rise Hotel Sea Rock at the city’s famous promenade, the Bandstand in Bandra, was associated in people’s mind with filmi parties. At around 3.20 pm, a suitcase bomb ripped through one of the rooms and damaged one wing of the hotel. Fortunately, no one was killed or hurt in the incident. But the financial loss was big; the hotel was closed for repair, but even after so many years, it could not get back on its feet. A new five star, Taj Lands, that came up in front of it, took away the entire business.
There was another suitcase bomb explosion, at Juhu Centaur at 3.25 pm, hurting three persons. Ten minutes later, the Airport Centaur opposite the Santacruz domestic terminal was targetted with similar suitcase bomb. Two employees were killed and eight hurt. The terrorists even flung a few hand grenades over the perimeter at Sahar Airport. With that, the dance of death came to an end. In all there were 13 bombing attacks of various intensities, which together took the lives of 257 citizens and maimed 713 people. The financial loss was put at Rs 27 crore.