TARGET HYDERABAD

In many ways the sites targeted by terrorists in the second attack in the City in a little over three months were also symbols of co-existence8212;the Gokul Chat Bhandar, where 32 people were killed, situated in the Old City was popular with almost everyone and the Lumbini Park a proud Hyderabadi tourist attraction.
Last Saturday night when the second of two bombs planted in the City went off at the chat shop the crowd was representative of Hyderabad and the 524 people at Lumbini Park representative of India.

With two sets of three blasts in the City between May 18 at the Mecca Masjid and August 25, both unsolved cases, there are also huge questions on the motives of the attackers.
8220;Every time a blast occurs in Hyderabad all eyes turn to the Old City and the blame is on people here. But, if the aim is to create communal differences it is not happening since people want to help each other and everyone feels the hurt,8221; says Civil Liberties Committee of Andhra Pradesh General Secretary Mohammed Latif Khan, a resident of the Old City and a minority rights campaigner.

8220;The common man understands that terrorists have no religion. People in the Old City live on daily wages and it is important that normalcy is restored quickly,8221; says Mohammed Muqtada Khan, MLA from the Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen party which holds political sway over the old City, and in the news for an attempted assault on Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen earlier in August. The government maintains that the blast has occurred after days of peace but that hasn8217;t assuaged anxiety.

Companies across Hyderabad, especially in the IT and ITES sectors have received an advisory from the City police commissioner to enforce strict security measures at all office complexes including mandatory identification cards for all.

Visits to malls and theatre complexes now involve metal detectors and frisking for all.
8220;A lot of our employees who have come to Hyderabad from other cities have started considering relocating. Our clients are also seriously worried. What really worries most people is that there has been no outcome in the investigations into the May 18 blasts,8221; says John Prabhu, an administrative manager with an MNC at the Hi-Tec City in Cyberabad.
But unlike the May 18 blasts at the Mecca Masjid, this time the Andhra Pradesh government has shown signs that it will not soft-pedal investigations from fear of treading on the toes of the minority community and its ally the MIM.

With the case under investigation, there are conspiracy theories that abound. Everything from the Taslima Nasreen visit to Hyderabad and the MIM8217;s reported loss of political ground to the Left in the Old City, to India8217;s growing ties with the US are all being touted as possible motives for the attack.

Preliminary investigations into the August 25 blasts has like in the case of the May 18 blasts once again thrown up indications of an operation carried out by 26-year-old former Hyderabad resident Mohammed Abdul Shahed alias Bilal.

Among the reasons for suspecting Shahid, who is linked to the Jaish-e-Mohammed,

the Harkat-ul-Jihadi al-Islami huji of Bangladesh and the Laskhar-e-Taiba is his expertise with bombs and explosives and his modus operandi.

8220;There are no longer any distinctions between the terror groups operating here. They are all ultimately linked to Pakistan and they all work together on the ground, distinctions are purely academic,8221; a senior police officer of the anti-terrorist squad said.

The arrests of two associates Md Shakeel and Md Haji lead to the seizure of two bombs and detonators8212;including a mobile phone activated detonators. One of the bombs contained explosive slurry material similar to what has been used in the August 25 blasts.

8220;These arrests in December 2005 and January 2006 in fact lead us to believe that the terror network in Hyderabad had been crippled for the time being. We knew that there could be sleeper cells that have to be strictly watched out for. I don8217;t think that vigil has been kept,8221; says former Andhra Pradesh DGP Swaranjit Sen.

The growing profile as an economic centre founded on information technology and the communal harmony have made Hyderabad the target of terror. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajashekhar Reddy has gone on record to say that the latest blasts were intended to disrupt the economic progress of Hyderabad, carried out by forces from outside the country.

8220;Any major city in the world is today exposed to terrorism. Hyderabad has grown to be a major city. These attacks are really isolated,8221; says AP Invest CEO C S Rao.

8220;In the Old City there is the view that the blasts must be seen in the international scenario of a growing proximity between India and US,8221; says the Civil Liberties Commission8217;s Lateef Mohammed Khan.
Senior police officers in Andhra Pradesh, however, feel that the attacks are a result of recent government reluctance to tackle terrorism with an iron hand.