Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Thursday said Indian Mujahideen (IM) executed three of the four major blasts in the country this year and was getting motivation and strength from inimical forces in Pakistan. Shinde said IM was behind the Hyderabad, Bodh Gaya and Patna blasts, while the Bangalore blasts were carried by Al-Umma.
“Indian Mujahideen, which draws its motivation and sustenance from inimical forces operating from across the western border, has been responsible for three out of four major terrorist attacks in our hinterland this year,” Shinde said. He was addressing annual conference of police chiefs here, organised by Intelligence Bureau.
lauding the work of security agencies, Shinde mentioned the arrest of alleged IM mastermind Yasin Bhatkal and Abdul Karim, also known as Tunda, who was also behind a number of bomb blasts in the country. Terming the arrests as “major breakthroughs”, he said it is important that the leads emanating from the investigations are vigorously pursued to apprehend all those associated with this network and stressed the need to be constantly on alert and act in a cohesive manner to deal with these challenges.
Shinde said the scope of Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) is now being extended to more than 450 districts across the country. “I believe there is a dire need for upward flow of intelligence into MAC for dissemination to stakeholders, which can be achieved by upgrading the capability of Special Branches of state police. This is only possible if states upgrade their Special Branches for which Government of India is prepared to extend all possible help,” he said.
“It is essential for all district administrations to put in place an early warning system for immediate detection of communal issues. For this, local administrations should maintain constant engagement with all communities, particularly in disturbance-prone areas,” said the Home Minister urging the police machinery to keep vigil on the communal tensions across the country.
Congratulating paramilitary and police forces for conducting peaceful elections in Chhattisgarh, a hotbed of Naxals, Shinde said high voter turnout has sent the right message to the Naxalites that common people of the area have reposed faith in the country’s democratic polity. “There has also been a drop in the casualty figure of security forces from 111 last year to 97 this year. On the other hand, the number of Naxals killed has gone up to 97 from 71 last year for the same period,” he said.
On Jammu & Kashmir, Shinde said huge voter turnout in the recent panchayat elections bears adequate testimony to the fact that support for the militants is getting eroded. “Peace in the last few years has paid huge dividends in terms of increased economic activities and record arrival of domestic and international tourists....Various employment generation schemes such as Udaan and Himayat are also being vigorously pursued,”he said.