India's Prime Minister Singh visits the site of the Disukh Nagar explosion with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister KK Reddy in Hyderabad, INdia. — Photo by Reuters

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh flew Sunday to Hyderabad to visit some of the 117 injured in twin bombings last week which also killed 16 people.

“The prime minister is going to visit the injured in hospital and then he will be briefed by the (Andhra Pradesh state) chief minister,” Singh's spokesman Pankaj Pachauri told AFP by telephone from the southern city.

Singh is also scheduled to visit the blast site in Dilsukh Nagar, where two bicycle bombs exploded within a few minutes of each other outside a cinema and a bus stand on Thursday evening, according to the Press Trust of India.

The premier has vowed to bring to justice the perpetrators of what he called a “dastardly” attack, the first major bombings in India since 2011.

The government was criticised in parliament on Friday by the opposition, which said the bombings had exposed systemic security failures at a time when India is on heightened alert.

Andhra Pradesh Home Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy has said investigators have found “vital clues” but given no details.

Newspapers have pointed the finger at the Indian Mujahideen, a banned militant outfit which has claimed responsibility for previous attacks.

The fitting of the explosive devices to bicycles was similar to other attacks by the outfit, local media reports quoted investigators as saying.

The homegrown group has links to Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based militant outfit blamed for the 2008 Mumbai attacks that claimed 166 lives, according to Indian intelligence officials.

Opinion

Editorial

Digital growth
Updated 25 Apr, 2024

Digital growth

Democratising digital development will catalyse a rapid, if not immediate, improvement in human development indicators for the underserved segments of the Pakistani citizenry.
Nikah rights
25 Apr, 2024

Nikah rights

THE Supreme Court recently delivered a judgement championing the rights of women within a marriage. The ruling...
Campus crackdowns
25 Apr, 2024

Campus crackdowns

WHILE most Western governments have either been gladly facilitating Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, or meekly...
Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...