HYDERABAD: The twin blasts that rocked the city on August 25, 2007, was a meticulously planned terror attack is proved by the fact that the perpetrators of the crime had conducted recce of more than ten crowded places in the city, before zeroing in on three places.
While the bombs went off at Gokul Chat and Lumbini Park, it was sheer luck of those at Dilsukhnagar, the third place on the list, where the bomb did not explode. The twin blasts were a reaction to the Mecca Masjid blast earlier that year, investigators believe.
As part of the recce operations, the accused took a ferry from Lumbini Park around Hussainsagar. They also had ice creams at Gokul Chat, said the investigators.
It was initially decided to trigger the blast on one of the ferries on Hussainsagar, but as the operations were delayed, Anique (one of the accused) had left the bomb at the Laserium, which was later defused by officials concerned.
Such lax were the security conditions in the city that all it took for the perpetrators to plan and execute the blast successfully was a month.
The planning had begun in July. The bombs went off in August. Anique Shafique Sayeed had rented a flat at Habisguda in July 2007, and it was here that the accused planned the entire plot.
Initially, they conducted recce at Dilsukhnagar, Chaderghat, Koti, Charminar, Mecca Masjid, Ameerpet, Chikkadpally, Secunderabad, NTR gardens and Lumbini park, and other busy locations known for huge movement. Much ahead of carrying out the blasts, Riyaz, another accused, had sent a parcel from Pune to Hyderabad through a government bus. He had asked his associates not to open it till he came to the city.
Riyaz had purchased batteries and other material once he was in the city. A day ahead of the blast, he assembled the bombs. It was also on this day that it was decided that all bombs would go off at 7 pm.
On the fateful day, Choudhury left for Dilsukhnagar with the bomb. Once there, he could not decide the location to plant the bomb. It was 6:45 pm by now. Choudhury was getting tensed. With little time left on hand, he rushed with the final step of inserting the batteries into the detonator.
This was where he went wrong and this, ended up saving several lives. A nervous Chowdhury left the bag on a bike near the foot over bridge and fled the spot. This bomb never went off. After the terror attack, the accused were supposed to use ‘Come to Big Bazar’ as a code in order to evade arrest. However, all of them managed to escape.
Anxiety of a terrorist helped save lives
Mohd Akber Ismail Choudhury, who was supposed to plant the bomb at Dilsukhnagar, out of anxiousness, did not place the pencil cells in the detonator properly. This saved several lives in area