The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Was the stranger a suicide bomber?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 13, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Was the stranger a suicide bomber?

Staff Reporter

Religious fundamentalist groups' hand not ruled out in the blast

Severed head found in Task Force office

HYDERABAD: Was the explosion inside the Police Commissioner's Task Force office an act of suicide bomber? This was the most widely debated question among police officials even as confusion prevailed over the motive behind the attack on the office. Based on eyewitness accounts, the police initially believed that a stranger carrying a backpack had walked into the office and managed to escape after throwing the bomb either on the home guard or into the building. But an hour after the explosion, sleuths found the severed head of a man near the bathroom in Additional DCP K.V. Venkat Reddy's room.

"Generally, the home guard stops strangers at the entrance of the hall. We cannot figure out as to how the man carrying a bag managed to go inside the Additional DCP's room," a police officer wondered. If the stranger was a suicide bomber, why would he target the building when no official was available was another question. The police are probing the possibility of the explosives accidentally going off.

"But the fact that his body was blown off into pieces and only head remaining intact raises several doubts," a senior officer observed. While speculation is rife about the possible involvement of a suicide bomber, confusion prevails about the persons who masterminded the explosion. The police did not rule out involvement of religious fundamentalist organisations behind the explosion.

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Andhra Pradesh