By IANS,
Hyderabad : Gun-totting policemen kept a tight vigil in Hyderabad for the third consecutive day Friday in view of warnings by intelligence agencies of possible terror attacks. P olice also cracked the whip on some shopping malls for poor security measures.
Police continued large-scale searches in the city amid warning of possible terror attacks. Armed security personnel maintained a tight vigil at busy traffic intersections and around major shopping malls, hotels and public places.
Dozens of policemen were searching vehicles and frisking people near the City Centre, a shopping mall which also houses popular family restaurant McDonalds, in the upmarket Banjara Hills.
Security has been further tightened around popular food joints, hotels, bus and railway stations, places of worship and key installations.
Police also sealed three shopping malls and an entertainment centre after security agencies detected major loopholes in their security systems. Despite instructions by police to beef up security, they failed to take adequate steps.
The malls were sealed after security personnel managed to enter them with dummy bombs while checking the establishments’ security system. The private security personnel deployed at these malls and metal detectors failed to detect the “explosives”. The malls, however, reopened after a couple of hours following an assurance by the managements to take corrective measures.
Police are on high alert in the city in view of reported warnings by central intelligence agencies of possible terror strikes. Police Commissioner A.K. Khan said they were not taking any chances as the city is heading for third anniversary of the bomb blast at historic Mecca Masjid.
Nine persons were killed in the blast during Friday prayers on May 18, 2007. Five protestors died in the subsequent police firing on a mob near the mosque.
Two near simultaneous blasts at Lumbini Park near the state secretariat and at Gokul Chat, a popular eatery, had killed 43 people on Aug 25 the same year.