"Terrorists do not want development, they do not want the IT and software industry. They want to divide the country," says Bandaru Dattatreya, head of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Andhra Pradesh state.

The state's booming capital, which has a high-tech hub known as Cyberabad, is home to 6.5 million people -- 38 percent of them Muslim. This week, it hosts a major global space conference to be attended by 2,000 delegates.

Suspected Islamic militants have twice targeted Hyderabad in recent months -- last May, when a bomb went off at the city's 17th century mosque, killing 11, and again on August 25 when 43 people died in twin blasts.

The May attack sparked Muslim riots that left another five dead when police opened fire.

"The city is prospering with a lot of IT companies coming. That is why it has become a target for terrorism," says B. Reddenna, police chief in the historic Old Town, which remains on high alert.

After the August bombings, the state's chief minister Y.S. Rajshekhar Reddy immediately accused "terrorist organisations based in neighbouring Pakistan and Bangladesh."

Both countries quickly denied the charges, but that did not keep senior police officials from pointing fingers at the two Muslim nations amid whispers of an "international plot" targeting India.

Bangladesh's Harkatul Jihad Al-Islami (HUJI) was often named in connection with the investigation, as was Pakistan's shadowy ISI spy agency -- a favourite candidate for blame every time a bomb explodes in India.

Police have arrested a dozen suspects as inquiries continue, but none are believed to have been senior operatives.

"It is a difficult task," admitted one officer, who asked not to be named. "There is no co-operation from neighbouring countries. It's like searching in the dark".

Police have thrown a security blanket over what is today a sprawling metropolis linking the twin towns of Hyderabad and Secunderabad with the new Cyberabad development, amid fears of rising Hindu-Muslim tensions.

Some 23,000 police have been deployed since mid-September for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, the start of which coincided with a major Hindu festival for the popular elephant god Ganesh.

"As it is, it's not tense" between the two communities, says Reddenna. "But the smallest incident may cause the greatest trouble."

"The terrorists plan to disturb the communal harmony and to create suspicion between religions. For the time being, there is no tension, but suspicion is there."

Dattatreya, a former federal railways minister, sees "an international plot" sponsored by Pakistan and Bangladesh to upset the peace in the mixed city.

"The terrorists plan to disturb the communal harmony and to create suspicion between religions," he says, recalling major Hindu-Muslim riots which shook Hyderabad in the 1980s.

Cyberabad has not been spared the wave of fear that has washed over the old city. In fact, all of India's "Silicon Valley" -- which includes southern neighbour Bangalore -- went on high alert after the August blasts.

The two cities are home to India's top three IT firms -- Infosys, Wipro and Satyam -- as well as US giants Microsoft, IBM, Dell, Cisco and France's Capgemini. All have stepped up security.

"We have not received any threat, but we are specifically concerned," says Capgemini's Bhuvaneswar Naik.

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