By Mohammed Shafeeq, IANS
Hyderabad : A day after near-simultaneous bomb blasts killed 42 people and injured 70 others, this southern city was on Sunday yet to recover from the shock, but the unity and restraint showed by its citizens have definitely defeated the designs of the terrorists.
Hyderabad, an IT hub and one of India’s fastest developing cities, remained shell-shocked Sunday after the worst terror Attack in its history.
The parks, shopping malls and cinema theatres where people throng in large numbers on holidays wore a near-deserted look Sunday as the fears of more attacks kept most people indoors.
The response of Hyderabadis was similar to that after the May 18 terror blast at the historic Mecca Masjid that had claimed nine lives.
Hindus and Muslims came together to help each other in hospitals where the injured are being treated. Irrespective of their religion, citizens were seen lending a helping hand to those in distress.
The city remained calm but on high alert Sunday with policemen deployed in large numbers at sensitive places and at vital installations. A few meters away from one of the blast sites, footpath vendors were seen carrying on with their business.
The police, however, forced a few theatres to cancel their shows. They also warned that theatres and shopping malls that lacked adequate security measures like metal detectors would not be allowed to operate.
An alert has also been sounded across Andhra Pradesh. Police have beefed up security at vital installations, places of worship and public places.
The two blast sites remained out of bounds for the common man Sunday as politicians made a beeline to inspect the two places, which still bear testimony to Saturday night’s destruction.
While 32 people were killed in the blast at Gokul Chat, a famous eatery in the Koti commercial area, the attack at Lumbini Park abutting Hussain Sagar Lake in the heart of the city claimed 10 lives.
The dead included three children and six women. Seven students of an engineering college at Nasik in Maharashtra and two railway police employees from Madhya Pradesh were among the dead.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy blamed the blasts on terror groups based in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
“All available information points towards the terrorist groups of Pakistan and Bangladesh,” he said when asked whether the state government was convinced about the involvement of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the attack.
The chief minister was addressing a news conference after a meeting of the state cabinet, which passed a resolution condemning the blasts.
“The terrorists who don’t want India to make economic progress and the international organisations which want to destabilise our country are behind the blasts,” he maintained.
Reddy announced compensation of Rs.500,000 each for the kin of those killed and Rs.25,000 for each of the injured.
At an all-party meeting, the state government said it was ready to consider reviving the tough Andhra Pradesh Control of Organised Crime Act (APCOCA). Home Minister K. Jana Reddy said if necessary, the state government was ready to order an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil told newsmen after visiting the blast sites that the state machinery should take timely action on intelligence inputs. His comment came amid criticism of state authorities that they failed to prevent the blasts despite intelligence inputs warning of more attacks following the May 18 blast.
Forensic experts of National Security Guards (NSG) and state forensic laboratory visited the blast sites to gather clues, while a team of senior officials from the union home ministry also went around the two spots.
The officials said high intensity explosives with timer devices were used in the blast. They said they would be able to say more about the nature of explosives only after investigations.
Police sources, however, said the explosive used in the blasts was Neo Gel 90, manufactured by Ameen Chemicals at Nagpur. This was the explosive found in the unexploded bomb recovered from under the Malakpet foot over-bridge Saturday night, hours after the blasts.
Former deputy prime minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L. K. Advani visited the blast sites. Condemning the incident, he demanded that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh immediately revive the anti-terror Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) to tackle terrorists.
The BJP has called for a statewide shutdown to protest the blasts. Its youth wing Sunday staged demonstrations condemning the blasts.
Former chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu demanded Chief Minister Reddy’s resignation for his government’s failure to prevent the blasts despite intelligence warnings.
Both the Lumbini Park and Gokul Chat were teeming with weekend crowds when the powerful blasts went off Saturday, snuffing out the lives of many unsuspecting people including students and tourists.
The bombings did not appear to target a particular community as both Hindus and Muslims frequent the two places. The dead included people from both communities.
This 400-year-old city witnessed many communal riots during the 1970s and 1980s but has remained by and large peaceful since 1990.
In the last 10 to 12 years, the city of six million people emerged as a major technological hub with many software giants setting up shop here.
It has expanded rapidly with a boom in real estate and growth of its IT sector being above the national average.