HYDERABAD, NOV 23: The Andhra Pradesh Government yesterday claimed to have identified the main culprit behind the bomb blast in the city a few days ago, based on the transactions relating to the Fiat car which was used to plant the explosive.

A cash reward of Rs 5 lakh has been announced for those providing information about the whereabouts of Gangula Suryanarayana Reddy alias Maddelacheruvu Suryanarayana Reddy alias Suri. Suryanarayana Reddy is a close associate of former MLA S V Ramana Reddy, who surrendered to the police within a day after the incident on November 19, which claimed 24 lives.

Following sustained inquiries in Karnataka and elsewhere, the Andhra Pradesh police have established that the car, bearing number CKM 646, was purchased by Suryanarayana Reddy in September in Bangalore.

``This is a vital clue and crucial evidence. There is no doubt now that Suri was behind the blast,'' Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said at a press conference.

Suri, who has gone underground, is the son of a former Congress MLA G Narayan Reddy. Former minister Paritala Ravindra, the target of the attack, has named Ramana Reddy and Suryanarayana Reddy as the main suspects. Senior police officers present at the press conference said Ramana Reddy was not in their custody but ``we are questioning him' 'the police officers remarked.Enquiries by the Karnataka state police revealed that the ownership of the car changed almost 10 times since 1988, when it was last registered in the name of G S Kamala Kannawar, an employee of HAL. He sold the vehicle to one Jeeva Ratnam in July, 1995. It was later purchased by Raju in 1996, but he sold it to Puttuswamy the same year.

In the subsequent transactions, the vehicle was bought by an auto consultancy, later by Mohd Haroon Sharif, Srinivasulu, Rahim and K K Jain. Three months ago, Jain sold the car to Khaleel.

According to a press release issued at the conference, two persons from Andhra Pradesh approached two brokers, Shyam and Jagdish, in September for a second-hand Fiat car.

They were first shown a car belonging to an army officer but the deal was not finalised. Ultimately, the buyers purchased the car (which was used in the blast) for Rs 30,000.

The brokers identified the photograph shown to them as that of Suryanarayana Reddy's, the person who finalised the deal. Policemen still are searching for Laxmi Reddy, a cousin of Suri, who was also involved in the transaction.

Having identified the main culprit, the Andhra Pradesh police were now investigating as to who else could have helped Suryanarayana Reddy in carrying out the operation, the Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu informed.

The Director General of Andra Pradesh Police H J Dora had gone to Bangalore to coordinate the investigations.

Meanwhile, the CID officials investigating into the case have said that the forensic experts confirmed that the nitro-glycerine explosive was exploded with a remote control mechanism from a point 100-150 feet from the site of the massive blast in the Andhra Pradesh capital.

Mohan Babu sees "big hands'' behind blasts

Claiming that he was the target of the November 19 blast in the city, Rajya Sabha member and film actor Mohan Babu alleged involvement of some ``big hands''.

Speaking to mediapersons at his residence here for the first time after the blast, he expressed doubts over the impartiality of the CID, and demanded a CBI probe.

To support his argument that he was the target, Babu recalled that Paritala Ravindra was alone several times that day as well as the previous day at the studio. But the blast took place when only he was in a vehicle along with Ravi and others. He also accused the Government of neglecting such an unprecedented case.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.