Hyderabad: The Andhra police have clearly hinted at the involvement of jihadi outfits in the blast at Hyderabad's Mecca mosque on Friday based on the fact that the attackers used a cellphone to trigger the explosion, the same way jihadi outfits like LeT, JeM and Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami have been carrying out attacks in the recent past.
On Friday, the police had recovered a cellphone and two wires connected to it from the site of the blast. A similar device had been recovered by the police in Srinagar on September 16 last year.
The police say a combination of RDX and TNT used in the blast. "It's a planned terrorist attack as one can see from the explosive device used in the blast, which is a sophisticated device. We are looking into all possibilities," Balvinder Singh, Commissioner of Police of Hyderabad, says.
Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, who visited the blast site on Saturday, also claimed that a sophisticated device was used to carry out the attack. But he desisted from pointing fingers at Pakistan for the attack.
"The technology was sophisticated. But we can't jump into any conclusion on foreign hands in the attack," he said.
Patil said the Friday terror strike appeared to be part of a bigger design seen in the attacks in Malegaon, Mumbai and Jama Masjid. He, however, cautioned that no parallel can be drawn among all these attacks at this moment.
"There was a design in the recent attacks in Malegaon, Mumbai, Jama Masjid. But we cannot come to the conclusion that the perpetrators are the same. The attack on religious places is with the motive to develop bad blood between the communities," Patil told a press conference in Hyderabad.
Patil offered condolences to the blast victims on behalf of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the PM and said that the government will do everything possible to find the culprits behind the attack. "The government will do its best that these things do not happen again," he said.
YSR sorry for police firing
Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh Government on Saturday admitted that five people were killed in police firing in the aftermath of the blast when police fired to control some angry protesters who were going on a rampage in some parts of the city. An enquiry has been ordered into the incident.
Chief Minister YSR Reddy apologised for the police firing and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh and a government job to one family member of each of the grieved family. The Prime Minister has also announced Rs 1 lakh each to the family of those killed. This relief announced is applicable for both the blast victims as well as those killed in the police firing.
In all, 16 people were killed, 11 of whom perished in the blast. Reddy also announced that his government was open to holding a CBI enquiry into the incident if there is a need for the same. The government has already state-level order an inquiry into the blast.
The city of Hyderabad and several other parts of the state observed a bandh on Saturday to protest against Friday's blast. The bandh was total in the Old Hyderabad areas while the impact was less in New Hyderabad. The North Telengana region also observed a spontaneous bandh.
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