The terror outfit carried out Wednesday's attack following a directive from the Lashkar-e-Tayiba to possibly avenge the execution of Afzal Guru, according to the Intelligence Bureau. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Two days before the Hyderabad blasts, the Centre had alerted all states that Pakistan-based terrorist groups may carry out attacks in a major city to avenge the hanging of Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru.
There are three angles of investigations being taken by the Intelligence Bureau and the Hyderabad police in the twin blasts that have killed at least16 people in a busy market in Hyderabad.
"Our worst enemies couldn't have done it better," was how eminent jurist Fali S Nariman reacted to the manner of execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru without properly communicating it to his family.
A strict curfew blanket spread across Kashmir valley ensured a peaceful Friday and stymied the call for a march to the Eidgah ground in Srinagar to attend a rally against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru at Tihar Jail in Delhi last Saturday.
Authorities have mounted a severe security bandobast to maintain law and order on Friday, even as the curfew continued for the sixth day in the old city and some major areas of the valley.
Days after the execution of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, President Pranab Mukherjee rejected the mercy petitions of four associates of slain forest brigand Veerappan, who were given a death sentence in a landmine blast case.
A day after approaching the authorities at Tihar Jail, seeking handing over of Afzal Guru's body to his family, two lawyers representing them on Wednesday withdrew as their counsel, citing "unseemly controversies" and "suspicion" by certain political groups in Kashmir.
Lashkar-e-Tayiba chief and 26/11 attacks mastermind Hafiz Muhammad Saeed has said that 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was executed merely to satisfy the "ijtimai zameer" (collective conscious) of the Indian nation that can only be satisfied with blood.
Union Minister and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah on Monday ruled out quitting the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre over the hanging of Afzal Guru, an issue on which Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had made some strong statements. "Why should we leave the government? We have got a job to do. You don't leave, I have no such idea," Abdullah said.
Rejecting the contention that the execution of Afzal Guru had a political motive, Congress hit out at BJP saying it was trying to make electoral mileage by raising the issue.
The impression in the valley that Kashmir is not only 'expendable' for buttressing New Delhi's partisan interests, but also a preferred choice to do so, is getting strengthened, feels veteran Kashmir commentator Mohammad Sayeed Malik.
Kashmir Valley remained under curfew for the third day on Monday even as mobile Internet services remained suspended and newspapers failed to hit the stands following hanging of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru.
'Special police told me that if I speak according to their wishes they will not harm my family and also gave me false assurance that they will make my case weak so that after sometime I will get released...'
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley shares his thoughts on the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru
Chiefs of both factions of Hurriyat Conference -- Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq -- were on Saturday placed under house arrest in the national capital as a preventive measure following the hanging of Afzal Guru in the Parliament attack case.
Congress on Saturday said the message of 'zero tolerance' against terrorism has been sent through the execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, close on the heels of Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab's hanging. Party spokesman Rashid Alvi said, "After Independence, two major acts of terror have taken place in the country -- the attack on Parliament and the Mumbai terror strikes -- and those who were responsible for both have been hanged."
The family of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru has been informed about his hanging by the Tihar authorities through Speed Post and the Jammu and Kashmir government was taken into confidence before his execution, the Centre said on Saturday. "They (Tihar jail authorities) intimated the family through Speed Post, registered post and the Director General of Jammu and Kashmir pPolice has been told to check with the family whether they got it or not," Home Secy R K said.
With the Supreme Court on Friday dismissing death row convict Devinderpal Singh Bhullar's plea that he should not be sent to the gallows, the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance government are hoping the verdict will stem the raging debate over the hanging of 2001 Parliament House attack accused Afzal Guru.
Five years since he supported UPA's Presidential nominee Pratibha Patil after breaking ranks with National Democratic Alliance, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Thursday appeared having second thoughts on the issue.
'It shows the signs of a weak government to avoid the heat from Afzal Guru that they carried out Ajmal Kasab's hanging in secrecy,' says IPS officer-turned-activist Y P Singh.
In an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN's Senior Editor Suhasini Haider, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah admits the lapses in the rehabilitation policy for surrendered militants following the fiasco over the arrest of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Liaqat Ali Shah.
The families had returned the gallantry medals they had received in honour of the slain personnel to the Rashtrapati Bhavan on December 13, 2006.
The families of eight security personnel who died in the 2001 Parliament attack will now take back the gallantry medals which they had returned in protest against the delay in the execution of Afzal Guru.
All Parties Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has accused the Jammu and Kashmir government of outsourcing the handling of the state to security agencies and is treating it as law and order situation than a political one.
The general strike called by hardline Hurriyat in support of the demand for handing over the body of Parliament convict Mohammad Afzal Guru, who was hanged in Tihar Jail, evoked a mixed response in the Kashmir Valley.
According to a National Crime Records Bureau report, a total of 356 cases of sedition -- as defined under section 124A of the IPC -- were registered and 548 people arrested between 2015 and 2020, out of which only six were convicted.
Curfew was on Saturday lifted from Kashmir Valley, a week after it was imposed following hanging of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru. "Curfew has been lifted from all the ten districts in the Valley," a police spokesman said.
Kashmir on Thursday started limping back to normalcy; five days after the hanging of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru, even as curfew remained in force in 10 towns of the Valley as a precautionary measure.
At least five persons were injured as fresh protests today broke out in Kashmir against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru even as authorities relaxed curfew for three hours in some parts of the Valley, officials said.
Curfew continued in Kashmir Valley for the fourth consecutive day on Tuesday even as authorities blocked all roads leading to the hometown of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru to foil any attempts by people to assemble there on the fourth day ceremony of the deceased.
From rejecting the mercy petition of Afzal Guru to allegedly disapproving of the suggestion to send former West Bengal governor Gopal Gandhi as India's next ambassador to Myanmar, President Pranab Mukherjee continues to assert himself as a notable player in Delhi's political parlour.
People's Democratic Party patron Mufti Muhammad Sayeed on Monday called India a "banana republic" over Afzal Guru's family not being allowed to meet the Parliament attack convict before he was hanged, a day after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said this was a "tragedy".
Union Minister and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah today ruled out quitting the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre over hanging of Afzal Guru, an issue on which Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had made some strong statements.
Against the backdrop of J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah voicing anger over the hanging of Afzal Guru, Union Minister Manish Tewari on Monday said that there was need for being "circumspect and responsible" as delicate scrutiny was involved in such cases.
Pakistan on Monday reacted cautiously to the execution of Afzal Guru, who was hanged on Saturday for his role in the 2001 Parliament attack, saying it did not want to "go into details" of his trial.
As many as 14 companies of the Border Security fOrce were rushed to Kashmir Valley to tackle law and order trouble, if any, even as the region remained under curfew for the third day following the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Fourteen companies of Border Security Force have been rushed to Srinagar for law and order duty and to ensure peace and tranquility, said security officials.
A controversy erupted on Sunday over the purported communication from the Centre to the family of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru about the decision to hang him on Saturday with the family alleging they had come to know about his hanging from TV channels and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah joining the criticism.
An angry Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Sunday slammed the execution of Afzal Guru and said this would reinforce a sense of alienation and injustice among generations of youth in the Valley.
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