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High alert in U.P. after Malegaon blast

Special Correspondent

Possibility of some of the victims belonging to the State not ruled out

LUCKNOW: A state of high alert has been sounded in Uttar Pradesh in the wake of the bomb blast in a mosque in Malegaon in Maharashtra on Friday.

Home Secretary R.M. Srivastava told newsmen that the intelligence agencies have been geared up and the securitymen asked to keep a close watch on rumour mongers.

Mr Srivastava said vigil had been stepped up at religious places, communally sensitive towns, vital installations, airports, railway stations and bus terminuses.

The security concerns in Uttar Pradesh have another dimension. Though the identity of the victims was not known the intelligence and security agencies have not ruled out the possibility of some of the victims belonging to the State, considering that large number of people, particularly from eastern districts, went to Mumbai for earning their livelihood.

The Home Secretary said there were no reports of any untoward incident in the light of the bomb blast.

Reacting to the incident, the Vice-Chairman of All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, said the incident was a test of the Muslims' patience. The Maulana said the Muslims should display the same restraint as was exhibited by the majority community in the aftermath of the serial bomb blasts in Delhi, Varanasi and Mumbai.

The Law Board Vice-Chairman said the incident was the handiwork of a few persons, adding that communal harmony is the need of the hour.

The Naib Imam of Lucknow's Aishbagh Idgah and AIMPLB member, Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahali said security ought to have been stepped up considering that today was "Shab-e-Barat" when large numbers of Muslims congregate in the mosques and visit the graveyards to offer "Fateha" for their departed ones.

Stating that both the communities should exercise restraint, Maulana Rasheed said the government should do some introspection into some of its past actions.

Zafaryab Jilani, legal convenor of AIMPLB and Babri Masjid Action Committee, assailed the government for a one-sided view of the recent developments.

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