One More Black Friday

A bomb blast at the Mecca Masjid in the old city on Friday afternoon, around1:20 pm, left 12 dead and 35 (including three children) injured. Some of the injured are said to be critical.The injured were rushed to Osmania General Hospital, NIMS and Owaisi Hospitals.

The Mecca Masjid is located close to the historic Charminar and is the largest mosque in the city. On Friday afternoons, about 6,000 people generally gather for prayers.

A private Telugu TV channel was at the site of the mosque shooting for a cultural programme when the blast took place. The blastis said to have been caused by a "tiffin-bomb", which was apparently detonated by acell-phone. Three more bombs were defused by the police later on. A Nokia 1100 series mobile phone was also recovered from the mosque.

The IED which went off causing the blast was apparently placed near a taqt of the mosque where people wash their feet before they offer prayers. DGP Basith says the taqt took a major impact of the blast and therefore the toll was lower.

Violence broke out in the communally sensitive old city soon after the blast when mobs took to the streets pelting stones at policemen who surrounded the mosque. The police in turn fired and reports say three persons were killed in police firing at Pista House near Charminar.

Paramilitary forces are patrolling the area around the mosque and the situation in the old city continues to be tense. Elsewhere in the city, traffic jams ensued as people were in a rush to go home. Shopping malls and car showrooms shut shop in a hurry fearing violence. A petrol bunk was torched in the old city and mobs went about damagingproperty

MIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi has called for a bandh in Hyderabad on Saturday in protest against the blast. The MP says laxity on part of the government and Intelligence agencies led to the tragedy.MIM MLAs Akbaruddin Owaisi and Mumtaz Khan were attacked by a mob when they visited the mosque.

Home Minister Jana Reddy was gheraoed when he visited the mosque. He could enter the mosqueto first-hand inspect the site of blast only with heavy police bandobast. APminister for energy, Mhd Ali Shabbir and health minister Galla Aruna also visited the place and latervisited the injured as well.

Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh for the families of the dead. Chaotic scenes prevailed at hospitals which struggled to treat the blast victims even as TV cameras barged in everywhere.

DGP M A Basith has said there are some leads and the police is working on them currently. Sources in Intelligence state unofficially that the"tiffin bomb" modules are indicative of a Lashkar role in the blast. Police sources say the security at the mosque was relaxed in recent weeks when people coming for prayers began complaining that they were getting delayed for the prayers because of the frisking.

Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy is likely to visit the mosque once he lands in Hyderabad. Home Minister Jana Reddy has said thestate is on high alert.