HYDERABAD, India, 20 May 2007 — Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr. Y.S. Rajashekhar Reddy yesterday asserted that the bomb blast at the historic Makkah Masjid during Friday prayers was a “terror attack” intended to create communal disharmony and disturb the peace and tranquility of the state in general and Hyderabad in particular.
Reddy made this assertion at a media briefing after the emergency meeting of the state Cabinet held to take stock of the situation in the aftermath of the bomb blast and subsequent police firings that resulted in a number of deaths. He said that it was a terrorist attack and not a communal incident.
He admitted that the central government and the state government were fully aware that the terrorists might target Hyderabad but there were no specific inputs on the places they would target.
“There are lot of clues in connection with yesterday’s incident and the culprits will be brought to book soon,” he said and added that he did not want to disclose anything more at this juncture as it would hamper the investigations and the culprits would be alerted.
Giving a clean chit to the state police, the chief minister said that the spontaneous action of the police after yesterday’s incident had averted major communal riots. If the police had not initiated immediate action, the situation today would have been different.
“The people should understand this. Our state police intelligence is one of the best in the country,” he added.
He said the people of the state and the city, realizing the evil designs of terrorists, remained calm.
“The Cabinet congratulated the people of the entire state who supported the government in its endeavor to restore normalcy in the aftermath of this attack. This clearly indicated that the people have faith in our democratic polity,” he added.
“The terrorist organizations are bent upon creating disturbances in India with the sole intention to create communal disharmony and to hamper the development of the nation. The entire country is an open field for them to carry out their activities and Hyderabad is no exception,” he said and noted that the people of Hyderabad did not fall prey to the evil designs of terrorists behind Friday’s incident but helped the authorities in maintaining peace and tranquility.
“The terrorists have no religion or caste. Their intention is only to disturb the peaceful lives of human beings. With this evil design in their minds, they carry out unscrupulous activities,” he said.
He said the Cabinet decided to extend all possible assistance to the kith and kin of the victims and also provide treatment to the injured at corporate hospitals. The Cabinet observed two-minute silence as a mark of respect to the victims.
Stating that the situation in the city and the state was normal with no major untoward incident reported from anywhere, he said in a stray case of stone-pelting at Bhavinagar, two policemen were injured.
Home Minister K .Jana Reddy said that as many as 16 people died, including nine in the bomb blast, five in police firing and the cause of death of two others was yet to be established. In all, 64 people sustained injuries.
Three persons were discharged from hospitals and the remaining injured persons were undergoing treatment in city hospitals like Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, Yashoda Hospital, Owaisi Hospital and Care Hospital. The home minister said that 92 platoons of armed police, including the Rapid Action Force, Central Reserve Police Force, City Armed Reserve and Greyhounds (special commandos) were deployed in the Old City.
Minority Affairs Minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir said that the police had withdrawn surveillance cameras and horse-mounted police which were deployed near Makkah Masjid every Friday on the request of elected Muslim representatives and religious leaders as they alleged that Muslims coming to prayers were being frisked and checked as if they were unsocial elements.
Investigating agencies and analysts have said members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) could have been behind these blasts in coordination with Pakistan-based militant groups.
“One of the things which appear to have been done at many places in the country is to attack religious places so that bad blood develops between different communities,” Federal Home Minister Shivraj Patil told reporters on a visit to Hyderabad.
Patil said an alert has been sounded at places of worship in other prominent cities of the country.
