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Hyderabad car bomb blast case solved, say police

The Andhra Pradesh police claim they have solved the November 19 car bomb blast which killed 26 people in Hyderabad, with the dramatic arrest of Maddulacheruvu Gangula Suryanarayana Reddy alias Suri on December 6 in Karnataka.

Suri and Elukuntla Dasi Reddy, another accused in the case, who were on the run, had been staying in Prakash Lodge in Chitradurg of Kolar district.

As more than 50 policemen raided the hotel, Suri and Dasi Reddy threatened to consume poison if the police tried to arrest them. Kolar Police Superintendent K Venugopal outwitted the duo and arrested them.

The arrest of Suri, 18 days after the blast in Hyderabad, brought much relief to the Andhra Pradesh police's crime investigation department which was investigating the case.

The blast had killed 26 people besides causing injuries to 30 others, including film star and Rajya Sabha member Mohan Babu and Penukonda MLA Paritala Ravi.

Though the Karnakata police wanted him in another case, Suri was handed over to the Andhra Pradesh police who brought him by road to Hyderabad on December 11.

Claiming that the target of the blast was Ravi, the police said Suri had 'enough reasons' to hatch the conspiracy.

Though another Anantapur faction leader S V Ramana Reddy was initially suspected, he was let off after preliminary questioning. Ramana Reddy is a known rival of Ravi.

So far, the police have arrested 10 of the 19 accused in the case. During the investigation, Suri's wife Bhanumathi and another woman Chittamma were also taken into custody from Muddusuba village in Anantapur district.

''With the names of practically everyone who was involved in the conspiracy known, the police are hot on the culprits's trail," Director General of Police H J Dora said. "The entire conspiracy has been unravelled. Vasudeva Reddy, who assembled the bomb and his accomplice Prakash Reddy, have spilled the beans."

A computer engineering student of the Indian Institute of Hardware Technology, Bangalore, Vasudeva Reddy was arrested at Srinagar colony in Hyderabad on December 2. Brother of Suri's close associate Eashwar Reddy, Vasudeva Reddy was among those who were present near the blast site.

The remote-controlled device was allegedly operated by Pavan Kumar Reddy. Fleeing to Bangalore after the blast, he surrendered to the police on December 9. Pavan Kumar Reddy and his two associates had arrived in the city on November 15 and 16 separately and stayed in lodges at Balanagar and Kukatpally.

Determined to kill Ravi, Suri has allegedly been hatching the conspiracy for more than five months. To test the remote-controlled bomb, a scooter blast was carried out on the outskirts of Bangalore, the police said.

Later, Suri hired the services of some friends who stayed in a farmhouse in Magadi Road, 29 km from Bangalore. The farmhouse, belonging to one Prabhavathamma, was leased out to Suri's friend Sampanga. While another friend Prakash Reddy secured gelatine sticks from railway contractors, Vasudeva Reddy allegedly assembled the bomb.

Dora said 500 gelatine sticks were used to assemble the powerful bomb.

Once the bomb was ready, it was placed in a Fiat car. The vehicle was taken to Jubilee Hill in Hyderabad. On November 19 morning, the car was parked on the road leading to the Rama Naidu studio.

"Suri had first planned to kill Ravi at film director Shankar's wedding in Hyderabad on November 16. The plan was dropped as a big crowd would attend the wedding. It was then decided the bomb should be exploded near the Rama Naidu studio," a police officer said.

Along with Suri, a police sub-inspector from Karnataka was gunning for Ravi's blood. Tumkur-based Narasimha Reddy's wife was killed in the television bomb blast at Suri's house. Ravi is suspected to be behind the blast. Narasimha Reddy, too, has been taken into custody.

According to the police, Suri moved to Bangalore three years ago. A number of non-bailable arrest warrants were pending against him in several cases in Anantapur and Bangalore. Suri is the main accused in the murder of an arrack contractor on July 3, 1997 at Chikbellapur in Karnataka.

After the blast, Suri went underground. Learning that he was staying at Bannergutta in Bangalore, a police party raided the place, but it was too late. For, by then, Suri had fled. Hot on his pursuit, the Karnataka police tracked him down to a lodge in Chitradurg, where he was arrested.

Following the developments, Rediff On The NeT asked Mohan Babu if he still felt that he was the target of the blast. Toning down his charge -- that the blast was a high-level conspiracy to kill him -- Mohan Babu said, ''I could also have been the target.''

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