Blasts rock churches in 3 states, 2 injured

In Karnataka, two bombs exploded outside a Roman Catholic Church in Gulbarga district’s Wadi town. Windowpanes of the St Annes Church were shattered due to the blast, Director General of Police C Dinakar said.

According to police sources, devotees had left the 114-year-old Goa church in Ongole after morning prayers and only four people were inside the building at the time of the blast. The bomb, an improvised explosive device, was kept underneath a rear bench. The explosion injured two persons and damaged window panes, Superintendent of Police Mohmmad Ahsan Reza said. The church stands adjacent to the District Collector’s office. Soon after the blast, about 100 Christians staged a rasta-roko, demanding the arrest of the culprits.

At the Tadepalligudem church, four people, including Father Kuchipudi and the sweeper, escaped unhurt when the bomb went off at 8.45 am. The pulpit, however, was damaged seriously.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Home Minister T Devender Goud said an organised gang was behind in the recent bomb explosions in different parts of the state. He told mediapersons that the gang targeted places of worship of Christians to create panic and create communal disharmony. He said special teams had been formed to investigate the bomb blasts. Police have got certain vital clues and they will be able to achieve a breakthrough in a couple of days, he added.

In Vasco-da-Gama, the bomb went off during the morning recess at St Andrews school. Fortunately, students had not ventured out into the church compound during recess like they usually do since it was raining, thus averting a tragedy.

However, the church, one of the oldest in the city, suffered structural damages, police sources said. A crude bomb placed on one of the window panes of the church is believed to have caused the explosion.

Superintendent of Police Alex Rasquinha, told The Indian Express that this could be the handiwork of fanatics. Over the past few months, the city has been tense due to the anti-Meta Strips agitation spearheaded by the Church over environmental and land dealing issues. On Tuesday, the local wing of the Shiv Sena had carried out a morcha in support of the Meta Strips project and the cause of Marathi language.

Today’s was the fourth incident during the last fornight in Andhra Pradesh in which bombs have been planted in churches. In the first incident at Machilipatnam, at least 30 people were injured when a bomb went off in a church. Subsequently two bombs, found in Vikarabad and Medak churches, were defused by the police.

Asked whether he suspected the hand of the Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence in the incidents, Andhra Pradesh Home Minister Goud said he did Not want to brand any organisation before the investigation was over. Asked whether security would be stepped up in all places of worship, particularly belonging to the minorities, he said this was not possible.

He urged people to inform the police about persons moving under suspicious circumstances and bomb-like objects.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, on hearing about the explosions, left for Ongole and Tadepalligudem to get first-hand information, official sources said in Hyderabad.

In Karnataka, the first blast took place at 6.15 am and the other a couple of hours later. The blasts were of low intensity and no one was hurt, he said. He said gelatine sticks, explosive devices and battery used in detonating the blasts were recovered from the spot.

Dinakar said police, who rushed to the spot after being informed of the first blast, found a tin box 20 yards away. Police personnel were afraid to touch the box, which soon exploded.

Indicating that there might not be communal overtones to the blasts, he said Wadi was a trade union dominated town. Dinakar said information gathered by state police revealed that similar blasts had taken place outside a church in Sanga Reddy district, at a Christian congregation in Ranga Reddy district and Krishna district and outside a Ram Mandir in Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh recently.