Another mobile phone, a Nokia 6030, was found on Sunday from the water tank of the Mecca Masjid along with pieces of the explosive device that went off on Friday, killing 11 people and injuring many others.
A team of officials from the National Security Guards (NSG), forensic experts and a bomb disposal squad combed through the scene of the blast at the 400-year-old mosque and recovered a mobile phone from the Wazu Khana, where worshippers wash their hands and face before prayers.
The tank was emptied in the presence of officials. Police sources said the Nokia handset, pieces of shrapnel and bits of the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) were recovered from the tank. A cell phone of the same model was found attached to an unexploded bomb found and defused in the mosque premises on Friday.
Investigators are hoping to find clues about the perpetrators of the blast from the SIM card, which was reportedly bought in Kolkata.
Officials have not ruled out the possibility of the second phone belonging to one of the victims as the blast had occurred close to the water tank. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajashekhara Reddy said that there is “overwhelming” evidence to prove the involvement of a foreign hand in the bomb blast.
Evidence collected from the site of the blast and accounts given by the injured and eyewitnesses clearly point to the involvement of a foreign hand in the dastardly act, he said here. The explosion, which killed 11 people, was aimed at disturbing communal harmony in the country, especially in Hyderabad, Reddy said.
Bangla link
Police believe that Bangladesh-based terror group Harkat-ul Jihad Al Islami (HUJI) was behind the blast and its activist — Mohammed Shahed alias Bilal, a native of Hyderabad — was its mastermind. Bilal is believed to have triggered the blast from Bangladesh as a very sophisticated technology was used to detonate the IED, filled with a mixture of RDX and TNT.
According to the police, a phone call from anywhere in the world to the mobile attached to the IED is enough to trigger the blast.
Three-four locals are alleged to have helped Bilal, also the mastermind in the suicide blast at the police commissioner’s task force office here in October 2005. One policeman was killed in that blast.
They hope to make some more progress by tracing the calls made or received from the mobile phone.
At the same time, the situation remained peaceful in the old city with no untoward incidents reported overnight.Meanwhile dozens of people — mostly youth — thronged the mosque for zohar or afternoon prayers on Sunday.
The worshippers were frisked at the main entrance, where a metal detector was installed.
For the third consecutive day, the mosque remained closed for tourists.