Strike called in Hyderabad after bomb carnage

INDIA: A strike called by right-wing Hindu nationalists kept many people off work and shut schools Monday after twin bomb blasts blamed on Islamic militants killed 42 civilians in this Indian city.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused the government of security lapses that led to the devastating Saturday night bombings here, after 11 people had died in a similar blast at a Hyderabad mosque in May.

It called the strike in protest at the explosions, which ripped through a packed street eatery in the mixed Hindu-Muslim city and an amusement park where hundreds of people were watching a sound and light show.

"We have been constantly warning the Centre (government) that it should take adequate measures to strengthen internal security, but the Congress-led government has never bothered to rein in terror," said senior BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra.

He accused the ruling coalition of a "soft approach on terrorism." Hyderabad, a normally teeming city of 6.5 million people, was quiet Monday morning, AFP correspondents said.

State-run and private schools declared a holiday after the BJP, which is India's main opposition, called the stoppage across Andhra Pradesh state.

Forensic experts were Monday studying the material used in the bombs which were set off by timers and left more than 50 wounded. "Yes, it is a timer-based explosive and one bomb that we defused, it also had a quartz clock timer," investigating officer Ram Mohan told the NDTV network.

Police also recovered and defused one unexploded bomb from a cinema hall a few hours after the twin blasts.

Hyderabad, Monday, AFP