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Tuesday, Aug 28, 2007
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Probe points to ‘external forces’

Vinay Kumar

NEW DELHI: As investigations into the twin blasts in Hyderabad inch forward, security and intelligence agencies suspect the involvement of the Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul-Jihad-i-Islami and sleeper cells of Pakistan-based terror outfits such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba or Jaish-e-Mohammad.

Though the probe was still at a preliminary stage, Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta said on Monday that the Andhra Pradesh police and security agencies were suspecting that terrorist outfits such as the Lashkar or the Jaish could be behind the ghastly crime.

“Investigations into this incident are in a very, very preliminary stage. Some possibilities have been identified. These elements or organisations are clearly outside the country and they resort to fuelling such activities. What is more important is to nab those who had planned it and those who executed it,” Mr. Gupta told reporters here.

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil is likely to make a suo motu statement in Parliament on Wednesday.

Accusations, a conjecture: Pakistan

Nirupama Subramanian reports from Islamabad:

Pakistan on Monday played down the accusation by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy of a Pakistan hand in the Hyderabad blasts, but suggested it would have been better for those making these statements to await the result of the investigations.

“I have not seen any official statements; I have only seen statements attributed to some Chief Minister,” said Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam, when asked about the accusations at a weekly briefing.

She condemned the terrorist acts in Hyderabad and said Pakistan was itself a victim of terrorism and was committed to fight it in its own national interests.

Declining to comment on the accusation of a Pakistan hand in the blasts, the spokeswoman dismissed it as “conjecture,” but said “it’s always better to investigate incidents of terrorism than to start speculating.”

Earlier this year, the two countries set up an anti-terror mechanism to avert tensions that always follow statements of the kind articulated by Mr. Reddy.

The mechanism was supposed to be a platform where such concerns could be aired, and through it, India and Pakistan were also to provide assistance to each other in the investigation and prevention of terrorist acts on either side.

No more meetings yet

The mechanism met here for the first time in March this year, and agreed to meet every three months. But no further meetings have yet taken place.

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