PM visits blast sites, promises assistance

Manmohan praises people for maintaining calm

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday praised the people of Hyderabad for maintaining calm in the aftermath of the twin bomb blasts that rocked the city and refusing to be provoked by the nefarious act of terrorists.

The prime minister flew down to the city, inspected the blast sites and consoled the victims undergoing treatment in two hospitals.

He spent about five minutes at Anand Tiffin Centre at Dilsukhnagar where the first explosion occurred on Thursday. Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, Director-General of Police V Dinesh Reddy and other officials briefed him about the incident and the progress of the ongoing probe.

Singh then walked down to the bus shelter near the Venkatadri theatre, the scene of the second blast, about 150 metres away. The twin blasts had ripped through the crowded area, killing 16 people and injuring over 120.

“I am here to stand in solidarity with the people of the city. I call upon the people to maintain calm in this hour of grief,” he said in a brief statement.

After inspecting the blast sites, the prime minister visited two private hospitals—Yashoda and Omni— and met the injured who are undergoing treatment. He spent about 25 minutes at the two hospitals, interacting with the patients and the doctors.

Singh assured the victims that the best possible treatment would be provided to them.
He was briefed about the condition of each patient and the line of treatment being given to them.

Earlier, the prime minister, who landed at the old Begumpet airport by a special aircraft from Delhi around 11 am, was received by Governor ESL Narasimhan, the chief minister, Ministers P Lakshmaiah, Dr J Geeta Reddy, P Sabitha Indra Reddy, Union Ministers P Lakshmi and S Satyanarayana, Chief Secretary Minnie Mathew, the director-general and other senior officials.

“I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured. To those who died, I send my condolences to the bereaved families. I have been assured by the state government that the best possible medical care is being made available to the injured,” Singh said.

Blasts reaction to executions: Shinde

Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Sunday said the twin blasts in Hyderabad could be a “reaction” to the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Mumbai attack convict Ajmal Kasab, reports PTI from Kolkata.

Shinde said the government was apprehending some sort of reaction from terror groups following execution of the lone surviving Pakistani gunman in the 2008 Mumbai attack and Afzal and it had been issuing alerts in this regard.

“We were expecting that after the two executions, some reaction had to come,” Shinde said, referring to the execution of Kasab and Afzal.