Scene of the Hyderabad Serial Blasts
Scene of the Hyderabad Serial BlastsReuters

Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said that the Intelligence Bureau was given warning about possible terror attacks across major cities of India.

Reports said that the Intelligence Bureau and Home Ministry had specifically alerted Hyderabad of a possible terror strike. The attack alert was repeated in the city and other metros like Bangalore, Hubli, Coimbatore on 20 February, one day before the serial blasts.

After the blast, police have beefed up security in Hyderabad to prevent any clashes between Hindus and Muslims as seen in the past .

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called a one-day strike in the city to protest against the attack. "The government is not at all concerned about law and order and security issues. It is just concerned about making money," BJP leader Ram Jethmalani told CNN IBN on Friday.

"Despite the intelligence input, how could there not be any preventive measures? What went wrong? What was the follow-up of the intelligence agencies? The government has to explain." Left leader D Raja said.

Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said, "No intelligence was given that a particular area it will happen. A general alert was given in the past two to three days to the whole country. And that's all," Reuters reported.

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj criticized the centre for not taking appropriate measures despite being alerted by the Intelligence Bureau. She also said that the nation and political parties should unite to fight terrorism.

Reports said that the explosions in Dilsukhnagar might have been carried out in retaliation to the hanging of 2001 Parliament Attack convict Afzal Guru. 

The police have tightened security in all major cities across India including New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore. Several states like Jammu and Kashir, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal were put on alert. The death toll of the serial bomb blast has reached 16 on Friday.