New Delhi, February 22, 2013- Yet another blast and one more failure to prevent it! Despite repeated intelligence inputs about a terror strike in the country in the aftermath of Afzal Guru’s hanging, the Andhra Pradesh government apparently failed to protect its citizens.
What’s surprising is that the Dilsukhnagar area of Hyderabad, where two blasts killed 22 people and injured 80 on Thursday evening, had been on the terror radar for the past few months. This had been revealed during interrogation of one of the suspects of last year’s Pune blasts.
IM hand?
In fact, Maqbool was arrested from his hideout in Hyderabad in October after he went underground following the Pune serial blasts last August. In April 2012, Imran had introduced Maqbool to the Bhatkal brothers of the Indian Mujahideen (IM). Their interrogation had revealed that just before the Pune serial blasts, Maqbool, Irfan, Imran and Asad had discussed their plan of carrying out an attack on the Buddhist shrines at Bodh Gaya, Bihar. But since the Bhatkals had wanted to avenge the death of Qateel Siddiqui, another IM operative who mysteriously died in Pune’s Yerwada jail, they decided to carry out blasts in Pune instead.
The investigation also revealed that Maqbool had trained other members of the group in putting together the improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The investigation had further revealed that Maqbool was instrumental in the formation of the Indian Muslim Mohammadin Mujahideen, a terrorist organisation in 1999.
If these revelations were not enough, then there were more. Recent intelligence inputs served as a clear indicator that terror groups were planning an attack in Hyderabad. Intelligence sources said the city has been on the boil since the hate speech made by Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) leader Akbaruddin Owaisi in January.
Target Hyderabad
Moreover, following the execution of Parliament attack conspirator Guru, a high alert was sounded across many cities in the country. One of the cities where the threat perception was high was Hyderabad. Intelligence sources said there had been a series of intelligence inputs regarding the city. Even Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said on Thursday that there was a specific intelligence input on Hyderabad. “We had informed the state government two days back. Thursday morning also, based on some inputs, all states were informed,” Shinde, who is expected to visit Hyderabad on Friday, said following the blasts.
Intelligence sources also said there were inputs of Kashmir-based terror groups targeting various cities. “There were inputs that Kashmir-based terror outfits, with the help of Pakistani groups like Lashkar-e-Tayyeba, could strike in cities such as Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore,” an official said.
According to the inputs, terror groups from Pakistan could have links with fringe outfits in other parts of the country and could use them in launching attacks.
