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| People pass by one of the blast sites on Saturday. (AFP) |
Hyderabad, Feb. 23: Some shops, cinemas and educational institutes reopened today at Dilsukhnagar as the busy Hyderabad neighbourhood began to pick up the pieces two days after 16 people were killed in twin blasts.
But in the hospitals where the 117 injured are being treated, life stood still for families.
“They are not telling the details but only that my son is alive,” said Bhadramma of Amberpet. Her son, Suresh, a 21-year-old polytechnic student, is fighting for his life in Omni hospital.
As many as 58 of the 117 injured — the condition of 22 injured is said to be serious — are youths.
To families, the government assurance that it would pay for their medical expenses and give compensation and jobs for the physically unfit brought little consolation.
In the neighbourhood off the Howrah-Vijayawada highway, where the two bicycle bombs exploded on Thursday evening and which is dotted with educational institutes, some students returned to classes.
Kasi V. Rao, the head of an educational institute in the area, said his school was open today. “We had normal attendance by students from nearby hostels but those from across the city did not turn up,” he said. Of 350 students, about 100 were present.
A cinema, Konark, located in a side lane opened for one show of the film Nayak starring Chiranjeevi’s son Ram Charan. It will be closed till noon tomorrow, when the Prime Minister is expected to visit.
But Venkatadri, the theatre outside which one of the bombs exploded, remained closed. “Tomorrow also we will be closed as the PM is coming,” said assistant manager Subba Raju.
Two malls in the neighbourhood also opened for business. “Police advised us to keep security at our parking lot also and CCTV inside the mall,” said Narayan Rao, manager of the Popular Shoe Mart.
Hyderabad police commissioner Anurag Sharma said no breakthrough has been made in the probe yet although 15 special investigating teams drawn from six agencies are on the job.
“We have gathered evidence from the blast site, CCTV footage and are also corroborating evidence with known activists and also some ISI convicts in city jail and in Nellore jail,” he said.
Sharma dismissed reports of the CCTVs malfunctioning and said the CCTV at Dilsukhnagar had worked till 8.30pm on February 21 before the blast disrupted power supply. “We are examining the video visuals of almost 30 minutes around the three-minute incident,” he said.
Hyderabad has 303 CCTVs, installed to monitor traffic. Chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy today cleared a proposal to set up 3,500 CCTVs at a cost of Rs 450 crore.
The state government also announced a reward of Rs 20 lakh for information on the suspects.
The Andhra Pradesh Forensic Science Lab has confirmed that the bombs were improvised devices made with material bought in local markets. Sources said 900gm of ammonium nitrate, a 9-volt battery, a tiffin box, glass and shrapnel were used. “A mere 300gm ammonium nitrate is enough to cause considerable damage,” a lab source said.
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