At least 35 people were feared dead and nearly 60 injured after two explosions, barely minutes and five km of each other, ripped through an amusement park and a popular eat-out here this evening.

Preliminary police investigations have revealed that the blasts might have been caused by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) loaded with RDX. “It is definitely a terrorist activity,” said Andhra Chief Minister Y Rajasekhara Reddy.

While President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have condemned the attacks, Home Minister Shivraj Patil is scheduled to visit Hyderabad tomorrow.

The Centre is also rushing a team of senior officers to Hyderabad, including Special Secretary (Internal Security) M L Kumawat. “It appears to be the handiwork of terrorists,” Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta said.

The Home Ministry has been in touch with the state government and is monitoring the situation, said officials. A red alert has also been sounded across the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, neighbouring Karnataka and New Delhi.

This attack comes just three months after blasts in the city’s Mecca Masjid on May 18 in which 10 persons were killed and 40 injured. A senior police official said the explosives used in the twin blasts today were similar to the one used by terrorists in the Masjid blast. This has led some to allege involvement of the Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami.

Today, the first blast was at around 8 pm inside an open-air amphitheatre at Lumbini Park, near the state Secretariat in the heart of the city. It tore through the middle rows from 8-11 during a “laser show”, leaving nearly 10 killed. Late evening rains ensured that the entertainment park, at least, was less crowded — the usual weekend count here is around 1,500 visitors.

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