New Delhi - At least 32 people were killed and more than 35 injured in a series
of blasts in Hyderabad, capital of southern Indian Andhra Pradesh state on
Saturday, officials said. "Preliminary information indicates this is definitely
terrorist activity," said Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YSR Reddy, who visited
the blast sites.
The first blast took place at an open-air auditorium in Lumbini Park at round
7:45 pm (1415 GMT), an official at the Hyderabad police control room said.
The auditorium is located near the state secretariat, which houses the offices
of the state chief minister and other top officials.
At least 500 people were watching a laser show in the auditorium at the time of
the blasts, police official RK Rao said.
The second blast occurred within 10-15 minutes at the Gokul Chat Bhandar, a
popular eatery in the Kothi area of the city located about eight kilometres
from Lumbini Park, the police said.
Andhra Pradesh Home Minister Jana Reddy said about 30 people had been killed -
26 at the eatery at Kothi and six at Lumbini Park. Unconfirmed reports said the
toll could be as high as 40.
Television cameras showed gory scenes at the Lumbini Park auditorium where
limbs, blood, clothes and shoes were strewn around with remains of blue plastic
seats. At the Gokul Chat Bhandar, dishes and food were seen scattered around
amid blood-stained clothes and shoes.
Hyderabad police commissioner Balwinder Singh said the blasts appeared to have
been triggered by cell phones attached to bags of explosives in a modus
operandi similar to that used by terrorists in the Mecca mosque blasts in the
city in May in which 14 people were killed.
The banned Harkat-ul Jehad-i-Islami (HUJI), an Islamic militant group, was
suspected of masterminding the blasts, PTI news agency reported quoting police
sources. The HUJI is suspected of being behind the Mecca Masjid blasts as well,
the sources said.
Many of the dead were young people and women, the police said. Eleven of the
dead have been identified so far. An inconsolable father of one of the victims
told NDTV television channel that it was his son's 20th birthday on Sunday.
The injured had been admitted to several hospitals in the city. The condition
of 10 to 15 was said to be serious.
A red alert has been sounded in Hyderabad and people have been asked to stay
indoors and avoid public places amid rumours of unexploded bombs being found at
several places.
"Don't believe rumours. Don't spread rumours," Reddy told people over
television. "We will do everything to restore calm."
A bomb with a timer attached had been defused below a pedestrian footbridge in
the city, PTI news agency reported quoting police sources.
Security has been tightened across the city and all vehicles entering and
exiting the city are being checked.
It is festival season in Andhra Pradesh and an estimated 10,000 weddings are
scheduled to be held in Hyderabad on Sunday.
Politicians from across parties condemned the blasts and appealed to people to
remain calm.
This is the second major suspected terrorist attack after the Mecca mosque
blasts in the city in 2007. Hyderabad has a large Muslim population and a
history of communal violence.
The most serious terrorist attack by triggering serial bomb blasts in recent
years was one on Mumbai's busy rail network in July 2006 that killed more than
200 people.
Copyright, respective author or news agency
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