Author: Omer Farooq
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: August 27, 2007
Sophisticated bombs with high intensity explosives
used
As the Hyderabad city was trying to recover
from the shock of the worst ever terrorist attacks and loss of 42 lives in
twin blasts on Saturday night, Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy on Sunday
categorically said that it was the handiwork of the terrorist organisations
from Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Addressing a news conference after an extraordinary
Cabinet meeting, Reddy said the available information was pointing towards
the ISI and other terrorist organisations of Bangladesh and Pakistan.
"As things stand today, the available
information with us points to the involvement of international terrorist organisations
in Bangladesh and Pakistan not only in this incident but even in the earlier
Mecca Masjid bomb blast also", he said.
When asked whether the deadly incidents were
the result of the failure of the intelligence, the Chief Minister said, "Most
of the times, the external terrorist organisations are responsible for this
and the State Government does not have the wherewithall to go with this sort
of intelligence operations".
Preliminary investigations by the police with
the help from the Central intelligence agencies as well as the CBI suggest
that the terrorists used sophisticated bombs with high intensity explosives
to target the crowded public places like the Lumbini Park and a popular eatery
Gokul Chat in Kothi area.
While the officials confirmed the death of
42 people, another 45 injured persons were undergoing treatment in different
hospitals, including Yashodha Care and Mediciti. The condition of about eight
of them was critical, as they had received serious head injuries.
Defending the local police, the Chief Minister
said that this was the result of the activities of the international terrorist
organisations and the local intelligence cannot go into this sort of cross
border terrorism. But, he clarified that he was not blaming the Central Government
nor the Central Government has held the State
Government responsible for the incident.
"This is an international affair and
these things get international support. We cannot have our intelligence network
in Bangladesh or Pakistan to get information on that," he said. The Chief
Minister said that there were many intricacies involved in the case and he
cannot divulge all the information he had.
Replying to a question, he said that nobody
was arrested by the police in connection with the blast. But informed sources
said the police were questioning about 25 people who had suspicious past record.
The Chief Minister announced a compensation
package for the victims and the injured in the twin blasts. The Government
will pay an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh for each person who died in the blast while
in case of a family losing its bread earner, it will be provided a Government
job. Each injured person will get Rs 25,000 and the Government will bear the
entire expenditure of his treatment in corporate hospitals.
The Cabinet strongly condemned the "ghastly
act" of the terrorists and lauded the people for their immense restraint,
their unity in the hour of distress and their cooperation in bringing the
situation back to normalcy so quickly.
While the police have come under fire from
different quarters for its failure to prevent the terrorist attack despite
a clear warning from the intelligence agencies, the Cabinet stood behind the
police and patted it for its quick action after the blast. The Chief Minister
said that the police succeeded in saving many more lives by detecting and
defusing a similar bomb in the busy area of Dilsukhnagar soon after the twin
blasts. The bomb was timed to explode at 10.35 pm.
The Chief Minister did not agree that only
Hyderabad was being targeted by the terrorists. Even Bangalore, Malegaon,
Varanasi and Mumbai were targeted, he said.
As a mark of respect for those who were killed
in the blasts and to express solidarity with the bereaved families, the Cabinet
decided that no Minister will attend any wedding on Sunday even though on
account of a highly auspicious day, about 10,000 marriages took place. Only
the Endowment Minister was permitted to attend the mass marriage conducted
by the Thirumala Tirupati Devsthanam.
