Two days after Hyderabad faced the worst terrorist attack in its history, the police were on wild goose chase for the better part of the day as at least half a dozen false alarms and hoax calls were made including one in the state Secretariat, a stone’s throw from Lumbini Park, one of the two places where bomb explosions were set off on Saturday.
The chief minister was chairing a meeting with his cabinet colleagues when the threat was received. All the employees of the Secretariat were evacuated, and bomb detection squad and sniffer dogs were immediately pressed into service. However, no explosive materials were found. Similarly, phone calls made to the police control room said bombs had been planted in the popular Paradise Hotel in Secunderabad, Chilkalguda, Global Hospital and the Imlibun bus station. All of them turned out to be hoax. 
Cross-border terror
Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh government has confirmed the involvement of foreign terror groups in the blasts. It suspects that terrorist outfits Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Harkatul Jihaad-e-Islami (HuJI) were behind the blasts, according to police sources. The investigation has been handed over to the Special Investigation Team of the Hyderabad Police which has formed ten special teams to probe the blasts. They have been sent to Aurangabad, Bidar and Bangalore to follow the possibilities although there are no clear leads on the perpetrators of Saturday’s horror.
According to Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta there were no clear leads that could be followed as yet. “Based on whatever has been seen so far, some possibilities have been identified, which the investigative agencies will be working on. Any terrorist group could be involved in the blasts, including LeT or JeM,” he said. “These elements or organisations are clearly outside the country,” he said here on Monday.
Counterfeit notes link
The police is also trying to find out if there is a link between the twin bomb blasts and the counterfeit currency that was discovered in Hyderabad a few hours before the blasts were triggered off. The police seized about Rs 3 crores from a house in the old city and arrested a few men who are suspected to be part of Dawood Ibrahim gang.
Meanwhile, the Amin Explosives factory in Nagpur from where the explosive material used in the bombs was reportedly sourced is being investigated. According to Hyderabad City Police Commissioner Balwinder Singh, Amin Explosives supplied nine tonnes of ammonium nitrate to three chemical firms in Hyderabad in the last one month. Police said the Neogel 90 explosive used in the unexploded bomb, recovered from a cinema theatre after the blasts, was made by Amin Explosives. Sohail, the owner of Amin Explosives is being questioned by the police.
In the meantime, Hyderabad police have picked up 10 people from different parts of the city and outskirts for questioning. They include three suspects who reportedly provided iron balls for making bombs. More than 20 people are being questioned in the connection with the blast. Mustaq Ahmed, who is suspected to have supplied ball bearings used in the blasts, is among those being questioned.
IN SHORT
Mixed response to BJP bundh
The BJP-sponsored state-wide shutdown to protest the twin bomb blasts in the city evoked partial response in Andhra Pradesh on Monday, reports PTI from Hyderabad.
Dawood link being probed
The city Police Commissioner Balwinder Singh on Monday  said that the Special Investigation Teams (SIT) was probing the alleged role of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim in the twin blasts that rocked the city on August 25 claiming more than 40 lives, UNI reports from Hyderabad. Mr Singh said that the SIT was grilling four persons including a Dubai based Alkaz Obaid Khamis Ali, who were arrested in connection with Rs 2.60 crore counterfeit currency racket busted by the city police on the day of the blasts.
Two arrested terrorists grilled
The Special Investigation Cell (SIC) probing the May 18 Mecca Masjid blasts grilled two terrorists to achieve a breakthrough in the twin blasts that rocked Hyderabad on August 25, claiming over 40 lives, reports UNI from Hyderabad. Police sources said the SIC team interrogated Shaik Nayeem, an accused in Samjautha Express bomb blast to ascertain his or other terrorist group’s role in the twin blasts. The SIC also interrogated an ISI agent Mohd Abdul Sattar. The city police has also picked up seven youth, who allegedly had links with some banned terrorist organisations, including SIMI, and questioned them.
Dhaka fumes at allegations
Bangladesh has rejected the Indian allegation that a terrorist group based on its soil was involved in the weekend bombings in Hyderabad, PTI reports from Dhaka. “The allegation is baseless, I reject it,” Foreign Affairs Advisor Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury said.