However, the government and the main Opposition BJP sparred on the cause-and-effect relation between the blasts and the efficacy of Indian laws or lack thereof.
The FIRs registered in Jaipur under different sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) related to unlawful prevention activities at public places, attempt to murder, waging conspiracy against the nation, and explosive act, a senior official said.
Yesterday, the Special Investigation Team detained a hardcore SIMI activist, Mohammed Sajid, and his three accomplices at Udai village in Sawaimadhopur district. The trio was being interrogated separately, the official sources said, adding there was so far no major breakthrough in the case.
In New Delhi, the BJP said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's advocacy of the creation of a federal agency for certain kinds of crimes merely covered up an abysmal track record in fighting terror. However, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said that respect for human rights should not be misunderstood as a sign of softness.
"Manmohan Singh's bonafides in the war against terror are suspect," senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said, while asking whether a federal agency under him to deal with terror can be trusted given his "track record" in the last four years.
Chidambaram, however, said the government had been misunderstood. "Although we respect human rights and laws and want these to be applied to everyone, our tolerance and respect for law should not be mistaken as a soft approach towards terrorism because the government is determined to fight terrorism tooth and nail," he said at a function in Jalandhar. However, Jaitely strongly criticised the government's approach to terrorism.
"It is ironical that after being in prime ministerial office for four years, the prime minister has finally woken up to the harsh reality that prevention and investigation of terrorism in India is on the verge of collapse," Jaitley said.
He said the repeal of POTA, not giving assent to similar anti-terror laws in BJP-ruled states, non-execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and "helping the accused being prosecuted under POTA for burning Sabarmati Express" raises a question whether a federal agency under Singh can be trusted.
He accused the UPA government of "deliberately" not giving Presidential assent to three BJP-ruled states
