Hyd'bad bombers thought they avenged Mecca Masjid

Hyderabad police, who were groping in the dark regarding perpetrators of the blasts that occurred in their city, have a reason to smile. The Mumbai police, who carried out a spate of arrests in the past two weeks, now claim that the men who had planted bombs at Hyderabad have been zeroed down on.

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Investigations conducted by the Mumbai Police have taken an interesting turn with two accused claiming during their interrogation that the twin blasts at Hyderabad were executed due to revenge.

It is said that terror operatives were under the impression that the Mecca Masjid blasts were triggered off by some Hindu outfits and hence to avenge this, the twin blasts at Hyderabad were executed.

The version of the Mumbai police is that the August 25 twin blasts were executed by Riaz Bhatkal, Aneeq Sayyed and Mohammad Ismail. While Bhatkal planted the bomb at Gokul Chats the other two planted the bombs at Lumbini Park.

On the same day, another bomb was also found at Dilkushnagar, but the same was defused. The cops say that this bomb too was planted by Aneeq and Mohammad Ismail.

The theory that Mecca Masjid blasts was carried out by a Hindu group comes following the interrogation of both Aneeq and Mohammad Ismail. The interrogations revealed that Bhatkal was the one who masterminded the operation and the explosives were brought in from Karnataka.

Bhatkal had told these persons that revenge for the Mecca Masjid blasts which according to him was undertaken by Hindu groups must be avenged.

Aneeq told his interrogators that the claims that the Mecca Masjid blasts were the handiwork of the Islamic forces were rubbish. According to Aneeq, Bhatkal was sure that Hindu outfits had undertaken the blasts and he had told them that they need to strike as soon as possible.

Several rounds of meetings were held in the aftermath of the Mecca Masjid blasts and they zeroed down on three targets in Hyderabad. While the operation at Lumbini Park and Gokul chats were successful, the one at Dilkushnagar was a flop thanks to the police detecting the bomb on time.

A police officer from Hyderabad told rediff.com information on this came from their counterparts in Mumbai and that they are working on the case. While Bhatkal is alleged to have fled the country, the Hyderabad police are now looking for persons within the city who could have sheltered these men who carried out the blasts.

While the probe into the twin blasts seem to be making some progress, investigations into the Mecca Masjid blasts do not seem to have made much progress. The CBI, which is in charge of this case, is looking at it from the HuJI point of view.

While the allegation was that HuJI had carried out these blasts to create a communal divide, several local Muslim leaders had told rediff.com that the CBI should also probe into the role which could have been played by some Hindu outfits in the Mecca Masjid blasts.