“We are sorry but we are not cowed down. We will definitely see to it that it is reduced and eliminated ultimately,” said Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil.
Declines comment
Mr Patil, here to take stock of the security situation in the aftermath of the two blasts on Saturday night, refused to comment on whether groups based in Pakistan and Bangladesh could have been responsible for the attacks.
He told reporters “these things cannot be openly discussed” and it was for investigating agencies to ascertain all facts about the explosions.
Earlier on Sunday morning, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy had blamed “international terrorist organisations” based in Pakistan and Bangladesh for the blasts.
Intelligence alerts
Mr Patil also spoke of the need for timely action on intelligence inputs to avert such attacks.
“We had bits of information, but we didn’t know when and where it would happen,” he said, replying to questions on whether some intelligence inputs had been received about the blasts.
Mr Patil said the investigations into the blasts would establish whether there was a failure on the part of intelligence agencies and necessary corrective measures would be taken thereafter.
Not easy to prevent
Pointing out that it was “not an easy job” to prevent terrorist attacks, Mr Patil said, “The country is very big and even if we have the information that something is likely to happen, sometimes we don’t know when and where this is likely to happen.”
Asked to comment on statements made by BJP leader L K Advani that terrorist attacks could have been prevented if anti-terror laws like POTA were in force, he said he would not like to enter into a discussion on this issue.
“We did what we felt was right,” he said, adding that there was no guarantee that such incidents would not have occurred if POTA had been in force.
As part of measures to prevent such incidents, the strength of police forces is being enhanced and their arms and equipment are being modernised, Mr Patil said.
There was also a need for better coordination between States and Central security agencies.