The police have announced a reward of Rs. 1 lakh for any information leading to the arrest of culprits behind the blast in Odeon theatre. The informant would be given a code word with a letter followed by four digits. Any clue about the blast can be informed to Additional Commissioner of Crimes Rajiv Trivedi or Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detective Department) T.V. Shashidhar Reddy over their telephone Nos. 94406-27940 and 98487-78217 respectively.
09/05/06
A day after the explosion in Odeon deluxe theatre here at RTC Crossroads, detectives on Monday tried to narrow down on the culprits based on the registration number reportedly found on the grenade's lever found at the blast site. Once the grenade's company name is found out, it will be easier to probe how the grenades went into the hands of culprits or the possible persons who would have acquired them from that company.
Police confirmed that high explosive material was used in the grenade. Efforts are also on to find out if any of the banned organisations ever used such explosives in the past. Sleuths believe that the person who hurled the grenade had done a recce of the theatre. It is said that air conditioner was on only in one side of the balcony when the second show began.
As a result, most of the viewers preferred to sit on that side. Police believe, the suspect chose the row of seats where there were not many spectators and threw the grenade.
However, higher-ups formed special teams to look into the possible involvement of religious fundamentalist organisations backed by Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence to left wing extremists.
Update: 08/5/06 12:40pm IST
The blast in a cinema theatre here that injured two people was caused by a foreign-made grenade, police reported Monday after preliminary investigations.
Two people, including a 17-year-old girl, were injured in the blast Sunday night.
Police Commissioner A.K. Mohanty said it appeared to be a grenade explosion, but added that it would too early to comment on who could be behind the act.
The explosion occurred in Odeon theatre in the busy RTC crossing around 10.30 p.m., just before interval during the screening of the Venkatesh starrer "Lakshmi".
Police suspect that somebody from the upper rows in the balcony could have thrown the grenade in the aisle.
Forensic experts, dog squads and a police team rushed to the spot and found remnants of a foreign made grenade. The explosion caused a small crater.
In the pandemonium following the explosion, viewers damaged glass panes to rush out. Later, angry patrons also ransacked the manager's room protesting lack of security.
The theatre management said 150 people were seated in the balcony when the explosion occurred. Blood stains were seen at the site.
The producers of "Lakshmi" have announced a compensation of Rs.40,000 each to the injured.
Police sources did not rule out the involvement of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence or the terror groups backed by it. They pointed out that these groups were involved in five to six blasts that occurred in the city during the last seven years.
Update: 08/5/06 8:00am IST
A crude bomb expolded at Odean theatre on RTC cross road in Hyderabad at around 2225 hrs IST on Sunday night. In the stampede that followed five people were injured with one of the woman stated to be serious. The blast occured at the balcony of Odean Cinema, where the night show of a Telugu movie was on, after the interval, police said.
Furnitures of the theatre were damaged, they said adding that senior police officers have rushed to the spot along with the bomb squad. The theatre was vacated and search was going on for any explosives, police added. Hyderabad Commissioner of Police AK Mohanty said it was a very low intensity blast. He added that such bombs are common in Andhra Pradesh. Police also said it was not a planted bomb but somebody might have carried it inside the hall.
