Author: Press Trust of India
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: November 22, 2002
URL: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_106711,000600030008.htm
A red alert has been sounded here
and neighbouring Ranga Reddy district and a strict vigil is being maintained
at all places of worship in the wake of a bomb blast at a parking lot near
Sai Baba temple on the city outskirts on Thursday night, killing a woman
and injuring 20 others.
With the needle of suspicion pointing
towards involvement of ISI agents to 'foment communal trouble', special
search teams have been formed to nab the culprits who had set off a time-bomb
placed in a scooter parked near the boundary wall of the temple packed
with devotees.
"We do not want to take any chance.
All the vehicles leaving the city are being checked and the police in neighbouring
districts are also put on high alert," a top police official said.
Meanwhile, the police on Friday
said a second bomb planted in a Maruti car parked nearby had failed to
explode and it had since been defused.
As the blast ripped through the
parking area of the temple, located barely a few yards away from Saroornagar
police station, a temple worker Padmamma (40) was killed and 20 others
received burn injuries and the condition of four of them was stated to
be serious.
The city unit of VHP called for
bandh on Friday even as the explosion triggered panic in the city.
After visiting the blast site, state
Home Minister T Devender Goud told reporters late on Thursday night that
the blast appeared to be the handiwork of an 'organised gang bent upon
creating trouble'.
"We are working on some clues and
examining the case from all angles including ISI angle," the Additional
Director General of Police (CID) ML Kumavath said.
The blast came on a day when US
Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill was in the city along with American Ambassador
Robert Blackwill to have a glimpse of the e-governance initiatives in the
state.
The bomb, planted inside a milk
can kept on a scooter bearing the number ATJ 7446, exploded at around 8.30
pm when a large number of devotees had gathered to witness the day's final
'Aarti' slated for 10 pm.
Under the impact of the blast, some
of the devotees fainted while others ran for cover.
"I heard a loud explosion when I
came out to perform puja of a new vehicle. We all started running into
the temple fearing a major attack," a shocked temple priest Raghu Kumar
said recounting the ordeal.
Among the seriously injured was
11-year-old Sravan who is battling for life at Yashoda Hospital with 85
per cent burn injuries.
A new lorry parked at the main entrance
of the temple, to enable the priest to perform puja, had served as shield
preventing sharpenels from hitting the devotees gathered inside.
"Otherwise, there would have been
more casualties," the priest said.
At the time of the blast, about
2,000 devotees were inside the temple located in a busy area of the city.
The nature of the explosive materials
used in the blast and the modus operandi pointed towards involvement of
an organised gang, police said.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu
received the news while having dinner at Falaknuma palace and immediately
rushed to the blast site, accompanied by Home Minister and top police officials.
He also visited the hospital where the injured were admitted.
Naidu later told reporters at the
blast site that forensic experts had collected the material and were examining
the evidence.
Appealing people to remain calm
and not to give credence to rumours, he said the culprits would soon be
brought to book.
The panic, triggered by the blast,
had its echo in the state assembly, which was in session late into the
night to pass some bills. BJP deputy floor leader K Lakshman raised the
issue demanding details on the issue.
