By IANS
Hyderabad : Terror groups based in Pakistan and Bangladesh could be behind Saturday night’s twin bombings in the city which killed 42 people, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy said Sunday.
“All available information points towards the terrorist groups of Pakistan and Bangladesh,” he said when asked whether the government was convinced about the involvement of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
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 said.
He did not agree that it was a failure of the intelligence and police machinery, and said the blasts were part of an international conspiracy.
The chief minister announced a compensation of Rs.500,000 each for the kin of those killed and Rs.25,000 for each of the injured. “In case of those killed and who were earning members, the government will provide a job to one member of each family,” he said. Seventy people were injured in the blasts.
He said the bodies of seven engineering students of Maharashtra were being sent to Pune by flight. While he put the toll at 40, the police had earlier said 42 people were killed.
The chief minister said two railway employees of Madhya Pradesh were among those killed.
He said the cabinet felt that a strong message should be sent to terrorists that they would not succeed in their designs to destabilise the country and the state.
The government has called an all-party meeting to discuss the situation.