Hyderabad:
Hyderabad is not a terrorist base, Home Minister P. Chidambaram
clarified Wednesday after inaugurating a regional hub of the
National Security Guard (NSG) here.
"It is a wrong word. No city is hub for
terrorism. I don't think you should brand any city as hub for
terrorism”, he said when a reporter asked if Hyderabad had become a
terrorist hub.
He was talking to mediapersons after formally
declaring open the regional hub of the NSG. He inaugurated the first
hub, in Mumbai, Tuesday. The NSG hubs are planned in the aftermath
of the Nov 26 Mumbai terrorist attacks.
"Hyderabad came up on the radar screen about
three weeks ago. We shared the input immediately with the Andhra
Pradesh government. I think the commissioner of police made a public
alert. They were looking for some people but nothing materialized”,
he said.
Chidambaram confirmed that intelligence
agencies had indicated a terror threat along the country's west
coast but clarified that it did not mean that there will be an
imminent terror attack.
"There is an intelligence input that there
could be a threat to the west coast. We therefore shared it with
Gujarat, Goa and Maharashtra. But that does not mean that there is
an imminent attack. These inputs are intended to prepare us in case
it materialises but let me assure you that it does not mean there
will be an imminent terrorist attack”, he said.
Chidambaram said that as per the practice
recently established, as soon as an intelligence input was picked,
the central government immediately shared it with the state
governments concerned.
"The question will be answered in parliament”,
said Chidambaram when asked if the Liberhan Commission report on the
Babri Masjid demolition of 1992 would be tabled in parliament.
Justice (retired) Liberhan submitted the probe report to Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday.
To a query, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S.
Rajasekhara Reddy said the state government planned to deploy
special security forces like the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF)
or Central Reserve Police Force (CISF) on Tirumala hills as part of
the security for the Lord Venkateshwara temple that attracts
millions of pilgrims.
"We are coming out with a scheme. The
discussions are on but nothing has been finalized”, he said.
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