Facing criticism after last week’s blast outside the Delhi High Court that killed 14 people, Union home minister P Chidambaram on Thursday not only defended the intelligence agencies for “pre-empting several terrorist attacks”, but supported the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for completing probe on most terror-related cases.
Speaking at a director general/inspector general conference here, he said intelligence agencies had, since 26/11 Mumbai attack in 2008, neutralised 51 terror modules.
The minister highlighted some of the major arrests made in recent times. In March last year, it nabbed two people — Abdul Latif Rashid and Riyaz Ali — who were planning to attack ONGC installations. Two months later, another such attack was averted when intelligence agencies arrested a certain Zia-ul-Haque in Hyderabad and averted a major attack on a multinational company. Some of the well-known software companies are based in the Andhra Pradesh capital — and these, according to security agencies, are high on the terrorist target list, Chidambaram said.
More recently, security agencies had in June this year busted a 10-member SIMI module and found that terrorists were planning to assassinate the three HC judges who had given the Babri Masjid-Ram Janambhoomi verdict, he noted.
The minister did concede that two terrorist attacks (the first being the July 13 Mumbai bombings) in a span of two months was a blot on intelligence agencies, accepting that he found pertinent criticism against him legitimate. “There are weaknesses in the system, there are delays in the processes. There is slackness on the part of individuals,” he said. “But no one should doubt our commitment and our determination to fight terrorism and insurgency,” he added.
The minister further stressed that the goal of the intelligence agencies must be to disrupt, dismantle and eventually defeat terror groups. “We do not have an organisation devoting its whole time and energy to defeat terrorist groups.” The most important unfinished agenda is the NCTC (National Counter Terrorism Centre). I hope to secure union government’s decision on setting up the NCTC,” he said. “Once there is a decision, I am confident that the core team of NCTC can be installed within 60 days and the full structure can be put together within 12-18 months.”
As for the NIA, which is facing criticism from political parties for not being able to solve terror cases, the minister said it was the agency that probed the recent blasts in both Mumbai and Delhi.
“I have also compiled a list of 48 terrorist cases since 2000. Of these, 37 cases have been charge-sheeted and these include some cases taken over by the NIA. Out of the 37 cases, convictions have been obtained in 8 cases from courts in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chandigarh. That leaves 11 unsolved cases,” he informed. “This is not a record to be scoffed at, although I agree that we ought to do better.”
Chidambaram squarely blamed the Afghanistan-Pakistan region for being the epicentre of terror, and said that four out of five major terrorist groups are based in Pakistan. Three of them — Lashkar-e-Tayeba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Hizbul Mujahideen — were targeting India.
“There are Indian terrorist modules. These modules seem to have the capacity to attract radicalised youth,” he said. “Some modules are loosely knit under an organisation called Indian Mujahideen (IM). Many old cadres of the banned SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India) have morphed into IM cadres.”
