Govt had information but no specifics, says Shinde

New Delhi, Feb 21: Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said on Thursday that the government had ‘information' about the blasts but there were no specifics. Shinde said the Centre had information about possible blasts but there was no specific mention of the city which was on the radar of the attackers.

Shinde said the information was passed on all state governments. He also had a talk to the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, Kiran Kumar Reddy, and the latter told him that the blasts took place within a radius of 150 metres.
NIA and IB teams were sent to Hyderabad to probe the blasts. Forensic experts of the NSG, the country's premier counter-terror outfit, were also sent Hyderabad. Post-blasts analysis team and experts from the Channai hub of the ‘black cat' commandos were also sent to the blast sites.

The NSG team will collect samples from the blast spots and analyse the trigger mechanism that was used in the explosions, sources said.

Eighteen people were killed while nearly 50 were injured in the Andhra capital on Thursday evening.

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Dastardly act and guilty won't be spared, says Prime Minister

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh termed the twin blasts in Hyderabad as "dastardly act" and said the guilty would not be spared. A tweet from the Prime Minister's Office quoted Singh as saying: "This is a dastardly attack, the guilty will not go unpunished."

The tweet also said the PM had directed the central agencies to extend all possible help to the Andhra Pradesh state authorities in carrying out the relief operations. Singh also appealed to the people to remain calm and maintain peace.

OneIndia News