Terror returned to Hyderabad on Thursday after two high-intensity bomb blasts rocked the crowded Dilsukhnagar area in the city, leaving at least 12 dead and about 80 injured.
Though no terror outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the blasts, investigators are examining the possible role of local sleeper cells of Indian Mujahideen.
The Andhra Pradesh police appear to have been caught off-guard even though the Union Home Ministry had issued alerts to some States, including Andhra Pradesh, two days ago about possible terror strikes. Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, however, refused to link the blasts to the hanging of Afzal Guru or the arrest of MIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi.
Following the blasts, the State police remained on high alert even as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and National Security Guards (NSG) reached the spot and started investigation. It was around 6.55 pm when the first blast occurred opposite the crowded Dilsukhnagar bus stop, close to the Venkatadri Theatre. Within minutes, another explosion, much more powerful than the first one, occurred near the Sri Sai Tiffin Centre near Konark Theatre.
The intensity of the explosions was such that some of the victims were blown to bits, while pieces of flesh was strewn all over the place. The victims and the injured were rushed to different hospitals. Window panes of almost all shops and other establishments in the vicinity were shattered and several vehicles were damaged. Several shop hoardings too came crashing down.
Panicky locals rushed to their houses even as a severe traffic jam hampered the movement of ambulances and the arrival of policemen at the scene.
Police sources said Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), placed in tiffin boxes, were planted on two cycles — one kept at the bus stop and the other at the Anand Theatre. Ammonium nitrate was the explosive used in the IEDs.
Though normally Dilsukhnagar is a heavily congested area, the perpetrators chose Thursday to trigger the blasts, considered auspicious for the devotees of Sai Baba. In fact, the scene of the blasts was only about 100-feet from the famous Sai Baba temple, which witnesses huge turnout of devotees.
The same temple was targeted in 2002 when an IED was planted on a two-wheeler. The blast had killed two people.