By IANS
Hyderabad : A high alert was sounded in this southern city Friday following serial blasts in Uttar Pradesh in which at least 12 people have been killed.
Police beefed up security around places of worship and at all vital installations in the wake of the simultaneous blasts in Varanasi, Faizabad and Lucknow.
Besides, security was also strengthened in the communally sensitive areas of the old city and also the IT district, Hitec City. Policemen could be seen erecting barricades and checking vehicles at different places.
The city had already been on alert because of the Friday prayers and the recent violent protest against controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen in Kolkata.
Following the violence in the West Bengal capital on Wednesday, the paramilitary Rapid Action Force (RAF) had been patrolling sensitive areas to ensure that nothing untoward happens and to prevent any demonstration against Nasreen.
A large number of policemen were deployed at the historic Mecca Masjid, where a blast during Friday prayers had killed nine people on May 18. On Aug 25, two near simultaneous blasts at a park and a popular eatery had claimed 44 lives.