Hyd blasts: Too early to pin point blame on IM

Vicky Nanjappa reports: Although the Hyderabad blasts bear the signature of the Indian Mujahideen, the police and the Intelligence Bureau say that it is too early to pin point the blame on the infamous terror outfit. "The group is capable of carrying out an attack of this magnitude, but their base is considerably weaker in Hyderabad, sources in Intelligence Bureau say.

The city of Hyderabad has been a victim of terror several times in the past. The two major incidents have, however, been the Mecca Masjid blasts and the twin blasts five years back. Both these attacks were carried out by separate groups.

While the Mecca Masjid blasts were the alleged handiwork of some radical right-wing groups, the twin blasts as per investigations pointed towards the involvement HuJI. The HuJI is said to have been controlled by Shahid Bilal who was a resident of Musrambagh in Hyderabad.

However, a couple of years back he was killed. It is said that he had set up the modules in the city and it was this very same network which carried out the twin blasts.

The Indian Mujahideen is said to be regrouping, but its area of focus has not been too much in Hyderabad. It has strong networks in Karnataka, but a lower presence in Andhra Pradesh. Most of the youth who have been arrested have had their association with HuJI as per investigations.

Even the recent assassination plot in which several youth were arrested pointed towards a HuJI network. Sources in the IB say that the IM angle would also be probed by the police and investigations would give a better picture on the strength of this outfit in Hyderabad.