PM in Hyd as terror looms large

Hyderabad: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has inaugurated the 93rd National Science Congress in the city even as the shadow of terror looms large.

Over 6,000 VIP delegates including Nobel Laureates Amartya Sen, Richard R Ernst and Wangari Mathai are among those attending the meet.

Meanwhile, the mood in Hyderabad is tense after an ISI agent, planning to bomb several places in the city, was caught on Monday, with two live bombs on him. Five bombs were also defused across the city.

The security is on an all-time high and the state police are gearing-up to avoid a repeat of the IISc attack.

The terror trail in the city goes back to October 11, 2005 when the Hyderabad Police Task Force headquarters was bombed. In December 2005, the city police arrested two people Zahed and Kaleem in connection with the attack.

During the interrogation, the duo disclosed that ISI operatives were present in the city and were targeting the offices of the Commissioner of Police, Director General of Police and Hi-Tech City in Hyderabad.

Chances are that more bombs have already been planted in other parts of the city. Zahed and Kaleem also said that Shakeel, a close associate of jailed terrorist Moulana Naseeruddin, was in the city masterminding the attack.

Shakeel was caught and two live bombs were recovered on his person.

A large cache of explosive devices concealed in an airbag were also found in Chalki village in Zaheerabad

"So far we arrested four people after the Task Force office blast and the security on high alert to avoid any untoward activity,” A K Mohanthy, Police Commissioner, said.

The security has been tightened further after the arrival of Manmohan Singh.