Hyderabad twin blasts: Was Sai Baba temple the original target?

Zeenews Bureau

Hyderabad: A Sai Baba temple in Hyderabad’s Dilsukhnagar area could have been the original target of attackers, who at the last moment changed their plan and planted the bombs at the two nearby locations.

Dilsukhnagar is the area where the devastating twin blasts on Thursday left 16 people dead and injured more than 100.

Notably, the temple is just 300 metres away from the second blast site near Konark theatre.

Sources have told Zee News that the temple could have been the original target of the attackers, who changed their plan because of the presence of Hyderabad police commissioner Anurag Sharma in the temple.

Thursday is considered to be the most auspicious day by Sai Baba devotees, hence hundreds of devotees had thronged the temple on the day when the blasts took place.

Sharma had visited the temple amidst tight security and left after spending around 40 minutes.

The Sai Baba temple has been on the target of terrorists earlier too. An IED in a scooter parked at the temple exploded in November 2002, killing two persons.

Police on Friday gathered vital clues in the devastating bomb attacks. They have also announced rewards for anyone providing information about the suspects seen in Dilsukhnagar.

Cyberabad Police Commissioner D Tirumala Rao asked people for information about a young man seen in the area before the bombs went off.

Claiming that police had obtained many clues, he said he was confident the case would be cracked. He said investigations were on at a brisk pace.

Police are believed to have gathered revealing clues from CCTV footage.

Of the three CCTVs in the area, two are believed to have captured some images which may help the police in identifying the terrorists who planted bombs near two cinema theatres.

The Crime Investigation Department (CID) began the probe after police registered two cases.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) and forensic experts gathered clues from the sites.