One more day in India with bomb blasts victimizing innocent citizens who were spending their weekend. Two bomb blasts have been reported at Lumbini Park near Secretariat and another near Gokul Chat Bhandar, famous chaat corner in Koti.
At least 41 people were killed and 60 injured when two bombs exploded almost simultaneously at an amusement park and a popular eatery in Hyderabad on Saturday evening.
The first blast occurred at around 1945 hrs IST at Lumbini Amusement Park on Necklace Road near the state Secretariat. The second explosion ripped through Gokul Chat Bhandar, a popular eating joint in Koti, some five minutes later.
The government-run amusement park was packed with at least 500 people for a laser show off the Hussain Sagar Lake. As many as nine people were killed here.
Another explosion ripped through Gokul Chat Bhandar, a popular eatery about five km away, five minutes later and killed 32 people.
.
.
A PTI report said after the blasts police recovered two live bombs in the city: one underneath a bridge in Dilsukhnagar and another at Venkataramana Theatre in Kachigudu.
Police officials refused to comment on the explosives used in the blasts but suspect that RDX was used.The police have cordoned off the two blast sites and are searching railway stations and bus depots in the city. The injured have been taken to Mediciti Hospital and Osmania Hospital.
Hyderabad helpline numbers: 040 23202833, 09440815858, 09440815856Chronology of major bombings in India
- August 25, 2007: Bombs rip through crowded public areas in the city of Hyderabad, killing at least 30 people.
- May 2007: A bomb at a historic Hyderabad mosque kills 11 people.
- February 2007: Bombs detonate on train headed through northern India for Pakistan, killing 68 people.
- September 2006: At least 30 people are killed and 100 injured in twin blasts at a mosque in Malegaon in western India.
- July 2006: Seven bombs on Mumbai commuter trains kill more than 200 and injure more than 700 others.
- March 2006: Twin bombings at a train station and a temple in the holy city of Varanasi kill 20 people. Kashmiri militants are blamed.
- October 2005: Three bombs placed in busy New Delhi markets one day before Diwali kill 62 people and wound hundreds. India blames Kashmiri militants.
- August 2003: Two taxis packed with explosives blow up outside a Mumbai tourist attraction and a busy market, killing 52 and wounding more than 100.
- March 1993: Muslim underworld figures tied to Pakistani militants allegedly carry out a series of bombings on Mumbai’s stock exchange along with trains, hotels and gas stations in the city, killing 257 people and wounding more than 1,100. (Info courtesy AP)
Huji of Bangaladesh
Central security agencies on Saturday said that banned Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami (Huji) militant outfit of Bangladesh was possibly behind the twin blast in Hyderabad in which 30 people were killed.
Sources said that there could be similarities between the explosives used in Mecca masjid blast in Hyderabad in May this year and Saturday night’s explosion.
It was suspected that Shahid and Bilal, who were the masterminds of the the Mecca masjid blast were also behind Saturday’s explosion.
Shahid is reported to be Karachi and is instrumental in bringing people for arms training from Hyderabad.
CBI has already procured a red-corner notice from interpol against Shahid.
BJP might be right in accusing the UPA govt. for its soft policy towards terrorism.
The BJP on Saturday blamed the Central government’s handling of internal security for the Hyderabad bombings and sought a high-level investigation into the explosion.
“We have been constantly warning the Centre that it should take adequate measures to strengthen internal security, but the Congress-led government has never bothered to rein in terror. These condemnable blasts appear yet another act of terror in the face of the UPA’s soft approach on terrorism,” senior BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra said.
The BJP leader maintained that the government was required to revive anti-terror laws to combat the scourge.
“We came with POTA and they(UPA) scrapped it for their own vote-bank politics. Time and again, it has been proved that you cannot deal with terror with ordinary laws,you have to have tough measures to fight the scourge,” he remarked.
Video Links of the related news here
UPDATE: Rediff reports that the Dilsukhnagar bomb under the bridge was set to go off at 9:30pm.
Photos:
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.