Two days after the terror strikes in Hyderabad which killed over 40 people, the government on Monday pointed fingers at the Lashkar-e-Taiba or Jaish-e-Mohammed, both Pakistan-based terrorist groups that have been held responsible for several other strikes in the country.
The revelation came even as the Centre sent out circulars to all states advising maximum alert in the light of Raksha Bandhan festival on Tuesday. The advisory directed the states to beef up security measures and keep an eye on crowded places like railway and interstate bus terminals and thoroughly check vehicles.
Updating on the progress made by the investigative agencies, home secretary Madhukar Gupta said on Monday: “Based on the preliminary reports, we can say that some possibilities have been identified. These elements or organisations are clearly from outside the country, as they only resort to fuelling such kinds of activities.”
On a pointed question if any group has been identified, Gupta said: “security agencies and state police are suspecting the role of Laskhar-e-Taiba or Jaish-e-Mohammad, although the probe is still in preliminary stages. However, what is more important is to nab those who planned it and those who executed it” .
In Hyderabad, Police Commissioner Balwinder Singh said “we have collected physical evidence from the blast sites and are hopeful that it would give clues about the groups involved in the terror strikes”. While declining to name the outfits responsible for the bombings, he said the explosive substance used in the blasts was Neogel-90, a highly explosive ammonium nitrate, which was manufactured in Nagpur.
Shortly after the twin blasts in Hyderabad on Saturday, investigating agencies had suggested that either Pakistan or Bangladesh based terror groups might have masterminded them. Home minister Shivraj Patil, while visiting the scene of the blasts on Sunday, however, had refused to take any names or suggest the involvement of a foreign hand. On the other hand, the Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy had put the blame on “international terrorist organisations” based in either Pakistan or Bangladesh.
The home ministry, however, maintained that concerns relating to security matters were being raised with countries like Pakistan or Bangladesh. When his attention was drawn to the recent home secretary level talks with Bangladesh, Gupta said, “We have been raising our concerns at the multilateral and bilateral fora. We intend to set up a mechanism with Bangladesh where actionable intelligence could be shared with each other.”
YSR, meanwhile, admitted on Monday that there had been “systemic lapses” in the intelligence set-up and said government would strengthen counter-intelligence wing and improve training methods for its personnel. “There is nothing wrong in accepting the ground realities. The successive governments have ignored the need to modernise and strengthen intelligence department,” Reddy said while addressing an all-party solidarity meeting. He said the state governments had “certain limitations” as the terror strikes were part of an “international conspiracy” to destablise India.
