Visit Indian Travel Sites
Goa,
Kerala,
Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh,
Delhi,
Rajasthan,
Uttar Pradesh,
Himachal Pradesh,
Assam,
Sikkim,
Madhya Pradesh,
Jammu & Kashmir
Karnataka
|
No intelligence failure, Pune blast an 'insidious' one: Chidambaram | Describing the Pune blast, in which nine persons, including three foreigners were killed and over 50 injured on Saturday, as an 'insidious' attack, Union Home Minister P.Chidambaram has ruled out intelligence failure.
Chidambaram, who rushed to Pune this morning, said the center had prior information
regarding the blast, adding that it is hard to stop attacks of such 'insidious'
nature. Addressing a joint press conference with Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok
Chavan after meeting the injured persons at the Sasoon hospital here, Chidambaram
said the agencies had information regarding 'Chabad' house being on terror radar.
"We knew that the Osho Ashram was also radar. It is an unfortunate incident, an
attack on a soft target," Chidambaram said. "Koregaon Park has been on the radar
for some time. Many soft targets need to be monitored," he added. Giving details
about the blast, the Home Minister said that it seems one or more people posed
as customers and left the backpack filled with explosives quietly under table.
Chidambaram also said that a team of the newly established National Investigating
Agency (NIA) is coming in from New Delhi to assist the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS)
in its probe. Speaking on the NIA team's role, he said: "There is no confusion
about this; ATS is investigating the case. I wanted the NIA to come so that they
can have first hand exposure to a terrorist crime as soon as it's committed. They
will only study the matter and assist the ATS but investigation is being done
only by the ATS." "Best police officers have been put on the job and the Maharashtra
Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) have taken over case," he added. He also urged the media
to avoid speculation, saying it would cause 'confusion.' When asked about the
nature of the blast, Chidambaram said the concerned agencies are investigating
the issue and informations would be shared with the media at a suitable time.
"Only when forensic reports come we will share it with you," he added. Meanwhile,
Chavan has announced an ex-gratia compensation of five lakh rupees to the families
of those dead in the blast. All the medical expenditure of injured people would
be taken care of by the Maharashtra government, he added. Home Secretary G K Pillai,
however, has said there is no information on foreigners being killed in the German
Bakery blast. Pillai said out of the nine dead, three bodies have been identified
but there is no information of any foreign national being killed. He said four
Iranians, two Nepalese, one German and one Sudanese have been injured in the blast. |
|
|
|
|
|