By Probir Pramanik

Mumbai, July 13 (IANS) Two days after the serial bomb blasts ripped apart seven first-class coaches of local trains in Mumbai, many of them seemed eerily empty at peak hours Thursday. A handful of psychologically battered Mumbaikars aboard seem to be questioning the faces of their fellow travellers and any new commuter who stepped in the coach is met with guarded suspicion.

Gone is the routine jostling in rush-hour sardine-packed compartments to get an elusive seat or just a foothold.

For those who did venture out for a journey aboard the suburban train, the paramount question in their mind was: "Will I reach home safely tonight?"

As this correspondent boarded a Virar-bound local train at Bandra station, one of the blast sites, some 10-odd commuters in the coach gave a quick look-over from head to toe.

While most commuters preferred to evade questions, one passenger said he was associated with the diamond trade.

After the train crossed Andheri, usually a bustling station that looked uncharacteristically quiet Thursday, the diamond trader finally opened up for further talk.

"A majority of the diamond traders in Mumbai commute in the first-class compartments of local trains. Fortunately for me, on Tuesday I missed the 5.57 p.m. local that I usually take on my way back home. Some pending work delayed me," the trader, who gave his name as Gauravbhai, told IANS.

"I was lucky for I lost two of my colleagues on that ill-fated train. The first-class compartment in which they were travelling was ripped apart by the blast at Matunga station just 20 minutes after they had boarded the train at Charni," he said.

"Both my colleagues were from Surat and had shifted to Mumbai only a couple of years back.

"But today I am jittery. Fear still stalks me and I am not sure if I will reach home safely tonight," the 35-year-old diamond trader said.

"As you see I am back on the train, but yes I am travelling early today. Though rattled by the blasts, I have plucked enough courage to resume my travel on this train after taking a break yesterday when I stayed home recovering from the shock and harrowing time to reach home Tuesday night," he said.

"It is almost like a Russian roulette - one does not know when will the next blast take place," he added.

Mumbai's diamond market remained closed Wednesday to mourn the colleagues who died in the serial blast.

"Six diamond traders from Surat have lost their lives in the tragedy and eight others are believed to be missing," said Nitinbhai Dholakiya, a member of the Surat Diamond Association.

"It is a tragic incident. A majority of the diamond workers were there in the first-class compartments at the time when the explosions took place," he said.

"Somehow it seems that the perpetrators of the blasts had targeted the diamond traders and corporate executives who usually commute in the first-class coaches," Dholakiya said.

"The terrorists may have been successful in striking terror, but they have been able to break neither us nor our spirits," he said.

On Tuesday, seven bombs went off in succession along Mumbai's commuter train network, killing about 200 people and injuring at least 740.