By Madabhushi Sridhar
Undoubtedly it is a deadly terrorist attack targeting the nation, but this time the blast site is chosen to be Hyderabad. Forty two died and hundreds injured in twin blasts rocking Lumbini Park, a tourist attraction of AP capital and Gokul Chat, a very popular eatery in Kothi on fateful 25th August, 2007. Though the two bombs caused considerable damage, the toll could have been much higher if police had not found and defused 19 more bombs hidden at bus stops, movie theaters, and bridges. "They could have killed hundreds," said Balwinder Singh, Hyderabad's police commissioner.
Secularism survives
Hyderabad– the 16th-century capital of the Muslim Qutb Shahi dynasty - is targeted because it is a centre of India's developing information technology industry, with dozens of top Western companies and many foreign executives’ working day and night. Like the bomb at Mecca Masjid 100 days before twin blasts, this attack also appears to have been designed to provoke a fresh bout of violence between Hindus and Muslims in the city of 6.5 million people. Hyderabad has one of India's largest Muslim communities. Of India's 1.1 billion population is 80 per cent Hindu and about 13 per cent Muslim, but Hyderabad has more than 40 percent Muslim. The people have rightly responded with peace and tolerance.
Hyderabad is cosmopolitan capital of Andhra Pradesh, where Muslim population is dense in old city while, all religion people live in peace in largely expanded new city including Hi-tech city and Secunderabad. In spite of communal politics and riots disturbing the city around ten times, the secularism still survives. By and large, the people prefer peace and progress except those who paint every controversy with the colour of religion and use it for polarization of votes on communal lines.
Eating center without security systems
Gokul chat in Kothi, a middleman’s bazaar and densely populated area, where 33 eaters died and 50 others injured, was an open to road eating center. Thousands with their families throng this place for samosa, cutlet, pav bhaji, paani poori, bhel poori, etc. Some one coolly walks in, keeps a bag (looks like a school bag) on ice cream box, and retreats, twenty minutes after which it explodes. And no one notices it. One of the occupiers of car would supply the others, and all enjoy the fast food sitting in air-conditioned cars. One such colleague bringing the ordered food from outlet to car did not return after serving friends four times. He fell to the blast. While hundreds hold money in hands and crave to grab the hot edibles, the outlet servers do not find time to collect money and deliver. Crazy eaters and greedy sellers do not mind any thing else.
The officers of Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad during March 2007 sealed this Chat Bhandar. While it is permitted to run three outlets, Gokul chat was operating six more centers using the footpath and brisk public road for eating and for parking of customer’s vehicles. The Commissioner issued closure orders after the AP High Court had upheld the civic body action to close the eating joint following complaints of unhygienic food being served, unauthorised running of the premises and lack of mandatory parking space.
It had only three trade licences and two food licences when it was mandatory for all nine to have both the permits. The building itself was found to be an illegal structure lacking any sanctioned plan. All this would go to show that it was the center of unmanageable crowd and unimaginable money making food joint. This atmosphere provided a ‘secure’ place for placing the deadly explosive devises, which took heavy toll. And as the audience stood to render the anthem a powerful blast rent the night. Had it not been for the rain god, the tragedy that struck the city on Saturday night would have been much worse.
There was a sharp drop in the number of visitors at Lumbini Park, a relatively inexpensive entertainment park alongside Hussainsagar, where one of the bombs exploded. The bomb went off at the famous laserium when a laser show was on. The laserium can seat about 2,000 people. However, due to heavy rain in the evening, only 500 people turned up for the show. The fate of the visitors to laser show is also decided by luck but not by any fool proof security arrangements. Any body could walk in plant whatever they want underneath the chairs (arranged at laser show).
Blast at Mecca Masjid: Lessons not learnt
Officials accused the same group of bombing a mosque in Hyderabad in May, which left 11 people dead, when a bomb exploded in the open-air courtyard at the historical Mecca Masjid mosque as Friday prayers are concluding. Timely arrived Bomb squad could defuse a second bomb. Fingers pointed to Shahid Bilal alias Abdul Rehman, 24, a former Hyderabad resident linked to terror groups like the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Harkat-ul-Jehadi, an explosives expert with a history in Hyderabad.
Criminal negligence
Things just happen, that’s all. If there are no blasts any where, it is because nobody wanted it. Basic duty of any constitutional governance is protecting the peace, for which the sovereign ‘state’ is authorized to collect taxes and authorized to spend thousands of crores of rupees.
Apart from the deliberate and well planned terrorist action, it is the lack of security systems and absolute disorganization of crowded places in Hyderabad contributed to ghastly deaths of innocents.
Explosion opposite the seat of State Power
While the Lumbini park is exactly opposite to main gate of state secretariat, Chat Bhandar is the center for crowds to throng for books, food and small business shops. Both are densely crowded and very near to police presence. Lack of intelligence, active diligence and very serious slackness on the part of the machinery are significant factors that aggravated the violence.
Misdirected Explosives
The state of Andhra Pradesh is reportedly a biggest manufacturer of explosives like slurry and detonators in the country. Nalgonda, nearby district is the headquarters for this activity. Most of the times these explosives find their easy way into the hands of terrorists or any other mafia gangsters. Out of 57 factories manufacturing explosives in the country, nine are located in Nalgonda, and out of 66 licences, Nalgonda has 25. If Nagpur has highest sale licenses, Nalgonda is the next highest. These explosives can be improvised into bombs. The steel balls which are used in the explosives were traced to Bibinagar, in Nalgonda district.
CM Concedes Lapses
It is alleged that the police is mostly concentrating on eliminating Maoists and in the process ignored the surreptitiously increasing terrorist activities. The Special Investigations Team, SIT was once considered to be efficient team to tackle such problems, not it is not properly manned by the police and the government. A Telugu newspaper reported that whenever police could narrow down on some suspect, one of the cabinet ministers of Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy regime used to come to their rescue, causing much demoralizing effect on the investigative efficiency. One of the Congress MPs openly pleaded that cabinet ministers should not intervene and get the accused released from police custody.
The Chief Minister conceded that counter intelligence and special intelligence wings should have been strengthened further. Former Police Senior Official of Police Department Anjaneya Reddy made certain pertinent recommendations to tackle such explosive incidents, but they were not implemented at all. Even the central team from Union Home Ministry felt that the blasts could have been avoided by diligent action. The police machinery was not properly activated to spruce up intelligence and security at least three months after Mecca Masjid bomb incident.
Fake Currency Links
The police caught on the same day a few hours before the bomb blasts, a big network dealing with huge amount of fake currency, which was suspected to be linked to mafia including terrorists. Four persons were arrested for conspiring to circulate 2.36 crore Rupees fake notes allegedly printed in Pakistan. The team dealing with currency consisted of three Pakistanees also. The police commissioner of the city explained that several terrorist outfit agencies were encouraging ‘sleeper cells’ of their wings who could not be caught until they resort to violence.
Old City with Criminal Past
Hyderabad continues to be the hub of Pakistan’s ISI organization, which increased its activity after the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. In 1993 the explosions and violent incidents were attributed to ISI. Almost all terrorist organizations, for instance Laskhar-e-toiba, Deendar Anjuman, Students’ Islamic Movement of India, etc, have either base or extensions in Hyderabad. Hyderabad’s old city has assumed the notoriety for Pakistani’s and other foreigners living beyond their Visa and immigration limits without being checked or clandestinely permitted.
Juned of Lasker-e-toiba made Hyderabad as his headquarters and operated as in charge of southern states for violent activities. His aides Pakistani nationals Mansur and Farooq Ahmed escaped out of the country from Hyderabad. Eleven bomb blasts during 2000 in Goa, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh were spearheaded from Hyderabad as the center for Deendar Anjuman. Azam Ghori, a key leader of Deendar was killed in an encounter in Karimnagar district, while Mohmed Aziz organized a training center for ISI agents in Hyderabad in 2002. around Rs 3 crore was released from Hyderabad through Havala transaction to secure the release of kidnapped industrialist of Kolkata.
Another ghastly crime of murdering Haren Pandya, a former Home Minister of Gujarat was planned and organized from Hyderabad. Even the police suspect that conspiracy for attacking Aksharadham in Ahmedabad was hatched in the state capital. After Haren’s murder, the CBI could catch Mohmad Ravoof, Intiyaz, Asghar Ali, Ifthikar in Hyderabad only. Ravoof is suspected to be responsible for securing for Asghar Ali, an appointment as ISI agent and also for explosions at thickly crowded Saibaba Temple in Dilsukhnagar of the city.
Police could gun down Azam as prime accused in these blasts along with another terrorist. From gold smuggling to fake currency, from bombings to ISI sponsored activities, the capital city became a safe platform, and despite the arrest of 160 ISI extremists within a span of 15 years and killing six in encounters, and discovering 25 kilograms of RDX, ten pistols, AK 47 rifle, and five kilos of silver nitrate, the August 25th bomb blasts could not be averted.
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