Heated exchanges in Guj Assembly on terror attacks

Gandhinagar, Sep 25 (UNI) The Gujarat Assembly today witnessed heated exchanges on the opening day of the three-day monsoon session, between the ruling BJP and opposition Congress members over the issue of terror attacks in Ahmedabad.

The Congress alleged that if Chief Minister Narendra Modi's government had paid any heed and acted promptly to the tip-off by intelligence agencies, it could have averted the serial blasts.

During question hour, Congress MLA Arjun Modhvadia said statements given by two SIMI activists--Safdar Nagori and Amil Pervez, to the Madhya Pradesh police had revealed that a SIMI meeting was held in Gujarat at Pavagadh. They also mentioned the name of Abdul Subhan Taukir, one of the masterminds of the blasts, who is still at large.

Mr Modhvadia also alleged that the ruling BJP was trying to make political advantage out of the GUJCOC (Gujarat Control of Organised Crime) issue.

While rejecting the Congress' allegations, Minister of State for Home Amit Shah stated that it was the responsibility of the Central intelligence agencies to coordinate the sharing of information with other states.

''The Central agencies had not provided any such information to Gujarat Intelligence Bureau or the Director general of police in the state,'' Mr Shah said.

He said the state government has adopted a strict policy towards terrorism. ''We have zero tolerance to terrorism'', he added.

The discussions led to uproarious scenes in the House with members of the ruling BJP and Opposition Congress shouting slogans against each other.

During the session, the state government is likely to introduce a resolution on the GUJCOC Bill, urging President Pratibha Patil to approve the Bill as soon as possible.

UNI HT-PVN OBB SP NS1952