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Bicycle buyers under police scanner in Hyderabad
With terrorists using bicycles to place bombs or to pack timer-triggered explosives, buyers of the common man's vehicle have come under the police scanner.
- IANS
- Published: 00:11 May 25, 2008
Hyderabad: With terrorists using bicycles to place bombs or to pack timer-triggered explosives, buyers of the common man's vehicle have come under the police scanner.
The Hyderabad police have made it compulsory for traders to establish the identity of the buyers before selling the bicycles.
"We have asked them to see who is buying the bicycles. They have been told to sell the product only after establishing the identity of the buyers," said Hyderabad Police Commissioner B. Prasad Rao.
The city police obviously have taken their cue from the police establishment in Varanasi which imposed the buyer verification requirement on bicycle sellers after the recent serial blasts in Jaipur, which killed 61 people and left over 200 injured.
Terrorists in Jaipur planted the bombs on ten bicycles to set off explosions at eight public places.
More cities targeted
A similar tactic was used in the blasts in several terror strikes in Uttar Pradesh as well as at Malegaon in Maharashtra last year.
With intelligence agencies warning that the terror groups might target more cities, the police here are not taking any chances.
However, those running bicycle shops said it would be practically impossible to keep a record of the buyers. "Many people come to buy cycles. If we ask them to prove their identity, they will be scared," said a trader.
This southern city was also rocked by bomb blasts last year. However, the terrorists did not use bicycles.
Five people were killed in a blast during prayers at the historic Makkah Masjid on May 18, 2007 while two near-simultaneous blasts at a public park and a popular eatery claimed 43 lives on August 25 the same year.
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