Hyderabad blasts: AP govt blames terror groups in Pak, Bangladesh

By M H Ahsan

HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh government on Sunday blamed terrorist groups based in Bangladesh and Pakistan for the two blasts here that claimed 42 lives and said it would revive a tough law to deal with terrorist activities.After an emergency meeting of the state cabinet, Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy told reporters that, "The available information points to the involvement of international terrorist organisations in Bangladesh and Pakistan".Reddy also blamed terror groups in the two neighbouring countries for the explosion in the Mecca Masjid here on May 18 that claimed nine lives.

Emerging from an all-party meeting that condemned Saturday's bomb attacks, State Home Minister K Jana Reddy said the government planned to revive the Andhra Pradesh Control of Organised Crimes Act, which lapsed two years ago, to deal with terrorism.An expert committee of senior officials will be formed to "deal with ISI activities", Jana Reddy said.Though the Chief Minister said Saturday’s near simultaneous blasts claimed 40 lives, Police Commissioner Balwinder Singh told PTI that 42 people died and 54 were injured in the attacks at Lumbani park near the state secretariat and Gokul chat Bhandar, a popular eatery in the busy Koti locality.As investigators searched for clues, an expert said the explosives used in Saturday's blasts and the Mecca Masjid attack were different."In the Mecca Masjid blasts, it was a RDX and TNT mixture...

Here it is entirely different (as some) ammonium nitrate-based chemical (was used)," said T Suresh, Chief scientific officer of the clues bomb detection squad. The Chief Minister rejected a suggestion that the blasts were a result of intelligence failure."Most of the Times, external terrorist organisations are responsible for such ghastly acts. The state government will not have the wherewithal to go into this sort of intelligence operations.

"We cannot have intelligence networks in Bangladesh and Pakistan," he said. Before leaving Delhi for Hyderabad, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil condemned the blasts. Patil was accompanied by a high level team led by special secretary (internal security) M Kumawat.Officials said no arrests have been made so far in connection with the blasts. a forensic expert said the material used in the twin blasts -- neogel-90, an ammonium nitrate-based emulsifier explosive -- was manufactured at Nagpur in Maharashtra by a company named Omni Explosives.

Another bomb defused in Dilsukhnagar was fitted with explosives and metal balls, he said.Compensation of Rs 5 lakh will be paid to the kin of the dead and a government job will be given to families who lost their bread earners while Rs 20,000 will be paid to the injured. among the dead were seven engineering students from Nasik in Maharashtra, two railway policemen from Madhya Pradesh, six women and three children.Thirty-eight of the dead have been identified, officials said.

The state cabinet reviewed the law and order situation in the backdrop of blasts and appreciated the "exemplary behaviour of citizens who maintained calm and stood by" the authorities in quickly restoring normalcy.In a resolution, the cabinet condemned the "cowardly act" and conveyed its condolences to bereaved families