Two hurt in Andhra mosque blast

The window panes and walls of the mosque were damaged under the impact of the blast. Smoke engulfed the area even as people staying near the mosque rushed for safety.

According to eye-witnesses, the explosive appeared to have been planted in a black bag kept in one of the windows. Some miscreants could have entered the mosque on the pretext of offering prayers and left the bag there, they said.

Tension gripped the town following the incident. Irate people belonging to a particular community pelted stones at RTC buses. A cameraman of a vernacular television channel was attacked by the mob when he tried to film the trouble. He was shifted to a nearby hospital.

Police clamped prohibitory orders in the wake of the incidents and heavy police force was posted at sensitive places to prevent further trouble.

The attack on the mosque comes close on the heels of a series of explosions in churches at different places in the state. As many as five incidents involving churches took place since May but the police failed to achieve a breakthrough or make any arrests so far.

It all started with an explosion on a Christian congregation at Machilipatnam in Krishna district on May 21 in which more than 20 persons were injured. Just a week later (May 28), an explosive device packed with gelanite and a timer device was found in a church at Vikarabad in Ranga Reddy district. The same day, bomb making material was recovered from a church at Medak.

Again on June 7, two powerful explosions rocked churches at Ongole in Prakasam district and Tadepalligudem in West Godavari district. Two persons were injured in these incidents.

A couple of days ago, miscreants removed crosses from about three dozen graves in a Christian cemetery at Rajahmundry.