No prior intel on attack: Chidambaram

Chidambaram claimed there was no intelligence failure on the part of Central or state agencies of an “imminent” attack.

“Whenever there is any information, we share it with the states concerned and vice versa. Unfortunately, this incident (triple blasts) slipped through,” he told the media after an emergency meeting to review the situation.

Addressing a news conference jointly with Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan this morning here, Chidambaram explained that “Intelligence is collected every day, every hour. It (blasts) is not a failure of intelligence agencies. Whoever has perpetrated the attacks has worked in a very clandestine manner.”

Stating it was a coordinated terror attack, he felt “it is too early to single out any terror group behind the attack.” 

He confirmed the use of ammonium nitrate in the blast, saying they were “not crude and showed a certain degree of sophistication”, but ruled out the use of remote control to trigger the blasts.

According to him, intelligence gathering as well as sharing information with states had improved vastly which led to successfully “neutralising” a number of planned attacks in the past two-and-a-half years.

He reiterated Indians live “in the most troubled neighbourhood in the world” and therefore, all cities in India are “vulnerable” to attack.

“Pakistan-Afghanistan is the epicentre of terror. We are living in the most troubled neighbourhood,” he said adding: “Just because attacks have not taken place in other cities does not mean they are less vulnerable.”

The home minister did not rule out the possibility of the blasts being an attempt to derail the forthcoming Indo-Pak talks.  “We are not ruling out any angle. We will probe (the involvement of) every terror group. The investigations into the attack will not start on pre-determined assumptions,”  he said.

At the same time, he said, “We are not pointing a finger at this stage,” as there had been no claim of responsibility for the attack.  “All the same, we have to look at every possible hostile group and find out whether they are behind the blast,” he said.

Chidambaram's response came to repeated questions whether he suspected the hand of a foreign terror group, right wing groups, the underworld or the Maoists or Indian Mujahideen in the incident.

“The investigation will not start on pre-determined assumptions,” he said and made it clear that India will not be cowed down by the attacks. 

“I want to assure everyone both in India and outside, that India will continue to work and grow and prosper,” he said, stating the blasts were not targeted against any foreigners or tourist visiting India. 

“The target is India's unity, integrity and prosperity. There are elements that are hostile to India and they are behind the blasts that have occurred over the past 10 years,” he said.

Prior to the news conference, Chidambaram visited the blast sites and also Saifee Hospital close to Opera House in south Mumbai.