By Xinhua
New Delhi : India sounded a security alert in many states of country Sunday after 42 killed, 50 injured in a pair of bombs in one of its hi-tech cities, news reports said.
Bombs tore through a food stall and an amusement park in Hyderabad, the capital of southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, within minutes of each other, Saturday night, killing more than 40 in what is suspected to be a terror attack.
The Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted officials from different states as saying that authorities have sounded a security alert in the wake the twin bombings.
Temples, mosques and other religious places were being specially guarded against any possible strike with vigorous police inspections of motor vehicles ordered.
Hyderabad’s police official Shankar M Bidari told PTI that security has been beefed up at railway stations and bus terminals.
Police in Tamil Nadu, another southern state, put up additional checkpoints and intensified patrol, commissioner D Nanchil Kumaran said.
Authorities in Maharashtra scaled up security in state capital Mumbai, India’s financial centre.
Other states in the South Asian nation tightened security too, the report said.
Saturday’s blasts in Hyderabad came three months after 14 people were killed in a bombing of a city mosque.
Other Indian cities have also witnessed similar attacks. The worst took place in Mumbai last year when a series of bombs ripped through the city’s commuter train network, killing about 200 people.
Hyderabad is a key information technology hub, with a population of about four million, is one of India’s prosperous and fast-growing cities, home to many software and biotechnology companies.