8th anniversary passes off peacefully

Bomb blast at Mecca Masjid

Hyderabad: The eighth anniversary of bomb blast at Mecca Masjid passed off peacefully in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Special prayers were held after Namaz-e-Zohar at Mecca Masjid where devotees offered prayers for those killed in the terrorist act. Elaborate security arrangements were made by the Hyderabad City Police around Mecca Masjid. Since Monday morning, the city police had cordoned off the area and deployed Special Forces, fire brigade and ambulances.

Platoons of Special Reserve Police and Rapid Action Force were also deployed near the historic mosque. South Zone DCP V Satyanarayana personally supervised the security arrangements while Additional CPs Babu Rao, MA Siddiqui and Mohammed Ismail, ACP Ashok Chakravarty were also present.

As many as nine people were killed in the Mecca Masjid blast after Friday payers on May 18, 2007. Five others, who were protesting against the blast, were killed in police firing. Initially, several Muslim youth were implicated in the blast case and later, it was proved that the blast was executed by right wing activists.

The innocent youth were later released and besides paying compensation, the then Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy apologised to the youth on the floor of State Legislative Assembly. Although the police arrested main accused Swami Assemanand and a few others, the investigation in the case is still going on.