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Agency planned in A.P. to tackle terror

Hyderabad: In the wake of the two powerful explosions that left over 40 dead in the city on Saturday, Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy said his government was considering a proposal to constitute a special agency to deal with terrorism.

He was not sure how soon such a mechanism would be in place as the proposal was not yet discussed with the Union Home Ministry.

Emerging from a special meeting of the Cabinet he convened to discuss the aftermath of the twin bomb blasts, Dr. Reddy, did not, however, agree with the suggestion that the Hyderabad City police had failed.

He said there was not much it could do in cases “when external [terrorist] agencies are at work.”

“The State government does not have the wherewithal to deal with situations arising out of cross-border terrorism. If someone in Bangladesh or elsewhere plans such explosions, how can we accuse the local police of inaction when it does not deal directly with terrorism. Similar explosions occurred elsewhere in the country too,” Dr. Reddy said.

Defending the police, he said: “They have to coordinate with the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). In fact, the Cabinet praised the police for their commendable job in locating and defusing another bomb in a cinema that was timed to explode at 10.25 p.m.”

Home Minister K. Jana Reddy said: “It is wrong to say that we did not act on IB’s warning issued three days ago. It was just a general warning against possible terrorist attacks and no specific mention was made of Hyderabad. We ordered vigil at points we thought were vulnerable, but they attacked at a different place,” he said.

Mr. Jana Reddy said that in view of the Opposition’s demand at an all-party meeting, the government would revive the Andhra Pradesh Control of Organised Crime Act (APCOCA) with some modifications. A time-bound legislation, APCOCA, lapsed two years ago since it was not extended.

The Minister admitted to its failure in not submitting to the CBI the second FIR (First Information Report) filed in connection with the Mecca Masjid bomb blast when the case was handed to the Central investigating agency.

“We did not realise all these days that it was necessary. We will send it now. Anyway, the FIR relates to the bombs that were defused at the mosque,” he added.

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