'Pak and Bangla groups behind blasts'

Hyderabad: Terror organisations based in Pakistan and Bangladesh could be behind the twin bombings in Hyderabad on Saturday night, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy said on Sunday.

Speaking after an emergency meeting of the state cabinet, Reddy said, "As things stand today, the available information points to the involvement of international terrorist organisations in Bangladesh and Pakistan."

Reddy rejected a suggestion that the near simultaneous blasts were a result of intelligence failure. He said: "Most of the times, external terrorist organisations are responsible for such ghastly acts. The state government will not have the wherewithal to go into this sort of operations."

He added, "The terrorists who don't want India to make economic progress and the international organisations which want to destabilise our country are behind the blasts."

The chief minister announced a compensation of Rs.500,000 each for the kin of those killed and Rs.25,000 for each of the injured. "In case of those killed and who were earning members, the government will provide a job to one member of each family," he said.