Centre to seek report from UP Govt on LeT plans to target VVIP

New Delhi, Dec 19 (UNI) The Centre would seek details from the Uttar Pradesh Police regarding reported fidayeen groups planning to target a VVIP politician in the state.

''We will seek details from the Uttar Pradesh police,'' Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta said here today when asked what the centre was planning to do regarding threat to the politician reported to be Chief Minister Mayawati.

According to media reports, intelligence agencies have intercepted certain telephonic conversations between a module of two fidayeen belonging to the LeT from a city in UP and Pakistan and police was now searching for the two fidayeen who have already entered UP through the porus Nepal border. They have reportedly been given the suicide belts for the planned attack.

This will be the second time when such alert was sounded after arrest of three Jais-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists here last month who, in the media, had claimed that they were in UP to attack Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

Mr Gupta refused to comment about reports of increasing presence of sleeper cells of terror groups in the hinterland as was evident from recent blasts in courts in Uttar Pradesh and attacks on religious places in Rajasthan and Hyderabad.

He, however, said that hinterland terrorism would be discussed in detail during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's meeting with Chief Ministers on internal security situation in the country.

States would be asked to strengthen the basic policing by filling up vacacies, strengthening intelligence gathering machinery at the grassroot level through beat constables and proper training and modernisation of police force.The Centre would ask state governments to take definite steps in a time bound manner to augument the police strength, he said.

''The meeting would be aimed to take stock of internal security scenario of the country, identify the gaps and and develop a roadmap to fill these security gaps.'' The meeting would strive to arrive at a consensus on establishing a federal agency to tackle crimes of terrorism having international and interstate ramifications, he said.

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