Twin Bombings in Hyderabad

Ten special teams have been formed to investigate the twin blasts that shook Hyderabad over the weekend, several of which have fanned out to Aurangabad, Bidar and Bangalore in South India to hunt for leads.

But the police have yet to nab the perpetrators and have so far established that RDX and another explosive called Neo Gel 90 -- believed to have been transported from Nagpur in western Maharashtra -- was used in the blasts, which went off nearly simultaneously at an outdoor auditorium in a park and at a popular restaurant.

Even as investigators wait for the forensic report on an unexploded bomb that was found in a nearby theatre to take the probe ahead, authorities are convinced that terrorist organizations from outside of India were responsible for the blasts.

Foreign terrorists suspected

That's also what Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta, overseeing the investigations, believes that there are foreign groups and organizations who have been trying to fuel terrorist activities.

The state chief minister Y S Rajshekhar Reddy, who has come under fire especially from the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party -- which called for a daylong strike to protest against the blasts -- was more forthcoming. He is convinced that external agencies and external terrorist organizations are responsible for these attacks. According to Reddy, all available information points at terrorist organizations in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Reddy, however, did not identify the groups or provide proof, saying it was not possible to divulge all information. Bangladesh and Pakistan have rejected accusations that Islamic fighters based in the two countries were responsible for the bombings.

India under threat

This is not the first time that Hyderabad, a flourishing IT hub, has been targeted. Just three months ago, 13 persons were killed in explosions in the historic Mecca mosque that nearly triggered communal riots in its aftermath.

The weekend blasts are the latest in a series of deadly bombings in India during the past two years that have killed hundreds in New Delhi, Mumbai -- India's financial center -- and other cities.

With India increasingly becoming a target of global Islamist terror groups -- as evidenced by the pronouncements of the Al Qaeda leadership and the string of terror attacks -- the government is seriously considering setting up a separate authority to deal with crimes threatening India's internal security.