HYDERABAD, India, 29 August 2007 — Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy yesterday announced the formation of “a powerful, vibrant and dynamic organization on the lines of the Greyhounds” in the intelligence wing of the state police to deal with terrorism and state security.
The Greyhounds, a commando force, was formed by the state government two decades ago to tackle the Maoist menace in the state. The new organization to tackle terrorist threat will work as a separate police cell. The officials attached to this wing will collect information and act swiftly on terrorist activities. “This organization will be world class and will be on par or above the standards of Research and Analysis Wing and other top class intelligence organizations,” the chief minister said in a statement. The officials working in the new wing will be given higher pay and perks.
The chief minister directed that a committee of the police department be constituted immediately to study this proposal. The committee has been asked to come up with concrete proposals which would be discussed at a meeting with the state chief secretary next Monday. A final decision would be taken at a meeting with the chief minister next Tuesday and ratified by the state Cabinet.
Reddy said the special team “can be as big as the police want and funds will not be a problem.”
The chief minister’s announcement came three days after two bombs killed 42 people at different locations in the state capital. No organization has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Additional Commissioner of Police M. Punna Rao, who is heading a special investigation team constituted to probe the blasts, has said that the team is investigating the incidents from all angles.
Rao told the media that three cases had been registered in connection with the explosions at Lumbini Park and Gokul Chat eatery and recovery of an unexploded bomb from near a cinema theater at Dilsukhnagar in the city on Saturday night.
“It is an open-ended investigation wherein we keep all the lines of investigation open. One after the other, we exhaust them. Definitely, we cannot rule anything out or confirm it unless we exhaust all lines of investigation. When we reach some conclusion, we will definitely get back to you,” he said.
Rao said there was no doubt that it was the handiwork of terror groups. “Terrorists seek to achieve two major objectives by perpetrating acts like this. One is to create immediate panic in the community and the second is to foment clashes between different groups of people. We have to find out which terrorist modules or groups are involved and who sponsored them,” he added.
He confirmed that Neogel-90 was used in the bombs. The perpetrators had prepared the crude explosive devices, using ammonium nitrate with hydrocarbon and gelatin sticks, fixing the detonators and timers to them and packing the stuff in bags.
