Foreign hand behind blast: Andhra CM

GUNTUR: There is “overwhelming” evidence to prove the involvement of a foreign hand in the May 18 bomb blast at the historic Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy said on Sunday.

Evidence collected from the site of the blast and accounts given by the injured and eyewitnesses clearly point to the involvement of a foreign hand in the dastardly act, he said here.

The explosion, which killed 11 people, was aimed at disturbing communal harmony in the country, especially in Hyderabad, Mr Reddy said. He was speaking in Komaraveedu village in this district after participating in a Rythu Chaitanya Yatra (farmers education programme).

Meanwhile, Hyderabad was tense when over 200 activists of the Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) staged a sit-in outside the office of the director general of police to demand a CBI inquiry into the police firing after the bomb blast in the Mecca Masjid on Friday.

The MIM workers, led by the party’s local MP Asassuddin Owaisi gathered in front of the office and staged the protest. There was tension when some MIM activists tried to enter the office. The protestors waved black flags for over half-an-hour on the busy Lakdi-ka-Pool road, disrupting traffic.

Mr Owaisi said the government should order a CBI inquiry into the police firing and suspend and arrest the personnel responsible for it. The demonstrators shouted slogans against the chief minister and the DGP. They also burnt the effigy of DGP MA Basith in front of the office. Hyderabad’s district collector has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the police firing.