By IANS
Hyderabad : Bomb scares at four places including the high-security Andhra Pradesh state secretariat kept Hyderabad on the edge Monday even as it was trying to overcome the shock of Saturday’s twin blasts, which claimed 42 lives.
The state secretariat, the seat of governance, received a threat call, sending the police into a tizzy. The entire complex housing the offices of the chief minister and his cabinet colleagues was evacuated and the bomb disposal squad complete with sniffer dogs conducted a thorough check. However, no explosives were found.
The Lumbini Park, a stone’s throw away from the secretariat on the banks of the Hussain Sagar Lake, was the one of the scenes of the twin blasts.
The office of the director of medical and health services at Koti area also received a bomb threat. The office is located near Gokul Chat, a famous eatery and the scene of the terrible blast that claimed 32 lives Saturday.
An unclaimed suitcase near the Global Hospital in the busy Lakdi Ka Pul also created a scare. The people in the vicinity heaved a sigh of relief when the bomb disposal squad declared after a thorough check that it contained no explosives.
Paradise Hotel, a popular food joint in Hyderabad’s twin city Secunderabad, also received a bomb threat. The call was declared a hoax after through a check by dog squads.
Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy appealed to people not to believe in rumours and cooperate with the police. He assured people that the security personnel were on full alert.
After the May 18 blast at the historic Mecca Masjid, which had claimed nine lives, the city had received dozens of such calls.
Two days before Saturday’s blasts, a few institutions here had received bomb threats. Police were probing if those calls were part of a diversionary tactic.
Meanwhile, several cinema theatres were forced to cancel their shows for the second consecutive day as police said they would not allow theatres without metal detector facilities to run the shows. Only five to seven out of about 100 theatres in the city have metal detectors.
Police have also directed shopping complexes to immediately install metal detectors to screen visitors. Officials said this was necessary to prevent another tragedy.