Author: Abhishek Sharan
Publication: Hindustan Times
Date: August 28, 2007
For the victims of the two Hyderabad blasts
on Saturday, death came gift-wrapped in glossy paper. The third bomb, which
was defused before it could blow up, was packaged similarly.
Each of these gift-wrapped packages, containing
ammonium nitrate-based bombs, was left in a rucksack, the kind used by university
students. Two of these together killed 40 people 12 at Lumbini park and 28
at Gokul Chaat.
The third placed near a footover bridge in
Dil Sukh Nagar was spotted by an alert traffic police officer and defused.
Most of what the investigators know about the Saturday evening bombs comes
from this one.
Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime)
Poorna Rao told the *Hindustan Times*: "The bombs were hidden in wooden
crate, inside a gift box that looked like a present given on any auspicious
occasion, say a birthday. But it actually spelt death-day."
He added, "The mode of concealment, including
the usage of the student-bag and golden foil, reveal the terrorists' attempt
to avoid detection by alert citizens and the police." But one alert policeman
wasn't fooled. Senior investigators are also saying that they suspect the
involvement of Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami (HuJI), a terror outfit with links
in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
They believe the kind of charger used in the
Saturday bombings "shaped chargers" points to HuJI, among other
reasons. This kind of charger, the investigators said, has been hardly used
in India but is widely used in Iraq. The other thing the investigators know
is that each bomb was timed to cause maximum damage. The Dil Sukh Nagar bomb,
for instance, was timed to explode at 10.30 p.m. when the four nearby theatres
finished their last shows.
The explosion at Lumbini theatre occurred
at the end of the laser show. "The terrorists' intention was clear to
maximise damage and the bombs were timed accordingly," said Rao.