The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to transfer the case of twin >bomb blasts at Dilsukhnagar in the city to the National Investigation Agency.
While the State investigation agencies and the Intelligence Bureau will share all inputs and clues related to the bomb blasts case, the NIA alone will be in charge and steer the investigation.
The decision to transfer the case to the NIA was taken by Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy after he reviewed the progress of the investigation and inputs received from various agencies, the State and the Centre, including the CID, Commissionerates of Hyderabad and Cyberabad, here on Monday.
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Home Minister P. Sabitha Indra Reddy and Director General of Police V. Dinesh Reddy and senior officials from the NIA and other investigating agencies, besides the Intelligence Bureau, attended the meeting
Multiple investigation agencies had been gathering and sharing the information after the bomb blasts rocked the Dilsukhnagar area that killed 16 people and left over 100 persons injured.
The Home Minister told media persons after the meeting that the decision to hand over the case to the NIA was aimed at speeding up the investigation. Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde too had emphasised the need to entrust the responsibility of investigation to the NIA, during his telephonic conversation with the Chief Minister recently.
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Asked if the decision was a reflection on the performance of the State agencies, Ms. Reddy said the terrorist strike was a serious one and the Centre viewed it as an attack against the country.
“This is not the first case that is transferred to NIA. Even in the past, such cases were transferred to NIA as it was specifically set up to deal with terrorist activities. It had taken charge of investigation during previous terrorist attacks, be they the Mecca Masjid blast or attacks in Karnataka,” she said.
Responding to a question, Ms. Reddy said that henceforth, only the NIA would reveal the progress of the investigation.
She, however, said vital clues had been gathered and the case would be cracked soon.
She said that in view of the information that the terror suspects had conducted a recce prior to engineering the bomb blasts, surveillance of all vulnerable spots across the State, including coastal areas, religious places and high population density areas, was being stepped up.