NEW DELHI: The three-man delegation of the Bharatiya Janata Party sent by party president Rajnath Singh to visit the scene of Sunday's petrol bomb blasts on the Delhi-Attari Special train went there on Tuesday morning.

"It was a terrifying scene," leader of the delegation V.K. Malhotra told reporters. "Despite the blasts in Mumbai local trains [in July 2006] and despite the fact that the Government was aware that more trains could be targeted, the Centre failed to prevent this tragedy."

Mr. Malhotra, who had visited the scene of the tragedy along with Sahib Singh Verma and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, criticised the Centre for not being able to handle terrorism. The Government seemed unprepared for what happened on the special train on Sunday.

Mr. Malhotra reiterated the party's known stand that the Prevention of Terrorism Act or a similar "stringent legislation" to deal with terrorism be enacted, a clear message should be sent to terrorists by "immediately hanging" Mohammad Afzal convicted in the Parliament attack case. Mr. Malhotra also demanded that Railways Minister Lalu Prasad should "resign" owning moral responsibility for lack of safety measures.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail