The Hyderabad bombings refers to the incident in which two bombs exploded almost simultaneously on 25 August 2007 in

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

, capital of the Indian

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

(now Telangana). The first bomb exploded in Lumbini Amusement Park () at 19:45 hrs IST. The second bomb exploded five minutes later at 19:50 in Gokul Chat Bhandar () in Koti, a popular restaurant about 5 kilometres (3 mi) away. At least 42 people were reported to have died in the two bombings. Two more bombs were defused in other parts of the city. According to initial reports, the banned Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami militant outfit of

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

is suspected for the serial blasts.

Unexploded bombs

A day after the blasts, police discovered 19 unexploded bombs—most fitted with timers and placed in plastic bags—across Hyderabad at bus stops, by cinemas, road junctions and pedestrian bridges and near a public water fountain.

Victims

Police Commissioner of Hyderabad, Mr. Balwinder Singh, mentioned to the

Press Trust of India The Press Trust of India Ltd., commonly known as PTI, is the largest news agency in India. It is headquartered in New Delhi and is a nonprofit cooperative among more than 450 Indian newspapers. It has over 500 full-time employees , including abo ...

that at least 42 people were dead and at least 54 were injured in the two attacks. Since the blasts occurred at places popular among the general public on weekends, the victims of the blasts include people from different backgrounds and include several children and women. Among the victims were seven students from Amrutvahini College of Engineering Sangamner (affiliated to University of Pune) in Ahmednagar District in Maharashtra. A group of 45 students, who were visiting Hyderabad on a routine industrial tour, were enjoying a laser show at Lumbini Park when the auditorium was struck by the explosion. The group was accompanied by four faculty members. Bodies of five of the students arrived at the

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

airport on 26 August afternoon and were received at the airport by a large crowd.

Responsibility

Central security agencies said that the banned Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami (Huji) militant outfit from Bangladesh was possibly behind the twin blasts. It was suspected that Shahid and Bilal or Sahid Ilyas Bilal, who were the masterminds of the Mecca masjid blast were also behind Saturday's explosion. Shahid is reported to be in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

, Pakistan, and is instrumental in recruiting people for arms training from Hyderabad. Shahid Ilyas Bilal, who is also linked to the Mecca Masjid attacks is a high-ranking

Lashkar-e-Taiba Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is a Pakistani Islamism, Islamist militant organization driven by a Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist ideology. The organisation's primary stated objective is to merge the whole of Kashmir with Pakistan. It was founded in 19 ...

operative who has lately been working with Huji. Madhukar Gupta, Union Home Secretary, has said that security agencies and state police suspect Lashkar-e-Toiba or Jaish-e-Mohammed. Shivraj Patil Minister for Home Affairs, specified terror groups based in Pakistan and Bangladesh were involved in the attacks. On 26 August, Foreign Affairs Adviser of

Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury described claims linking

with the bombings as 'baseless'. On 27 August, the Hyderabad police released the news that the bombs were constructed from ''Neogel-90'', an

ammonium nitrate Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a white crystalline salt consisting of ions of ammonium and nitrate. It is highly soluble in water and hygroscopic as a solid, but does not form hydrates. It is predominantly us ...

-based explosive used commercially in road construction. ''The Telegraph'' reported that this caused suspicion to be 'divided' between the Huji, which is known to have used Neogel in the past, and Naxalite organisations from the interior of Andhra Pradesh, who have been "planning retaliation for the state government's hot-pursuit campaign"; Neogel-90 has not previously been used illegally in India, but has been seized in the past from Naxalite groups in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

and

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

Investigations

Three people were picked up for questioning regarding the blast. Among them were a cycle shop owner, from Bibinagar, about 25 kilometres (16 mi) from Hyderabad. It is alleged that he supplied the steel balls used in the bombs. A group of four individuals was taken for questioning, the Pioneer notes:

Post-bombings

President Pratibha Patil, Vice-President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...

condemned the Hyderabad blasts and expressed shock over the loss of innocent lives. In light of the twin bomb blasts in Hyderabad, forensic scientist P. Chandra Sekharan urged the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

to establish a "National Explosives Control Bureau (NECB)" on the lines of the Narcotics Control Bureau.

Reactions

References

External links

Mumbai blast of 7/11
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