Chidambaram does some firefighting to quell NCTC fire

New Delhi, Feb 24: With the Centre’s proposal to establish a National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) not going down well with the Chief Ministers of certain states, the Home Minister P Chidambaram intends to diffuse the row and has written to Chief Ministers of 10 states on the issue.

Chidambaram is understood to have written to the CMs of Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka addressing their concerns on the anti-terrorism body.

The National Counter Terrorism Agency was slated to start operations on Mar 1 when it hit a roadblock. Orissa and West Bengal CMs, Naveen Patnaik and Mamata Banerjee wrote to the PM earlier citing their apprehensiveness on the agency and feared that it might compromise with the states' powers.

Mamata Banerjee also met with the PM to discuss the issue following which he assured her that the Home Ministry will look in to the matter and do the needful to allay their fears.

Chidambaram commented on the same that he has instructed the Home Secretary to hold consultations with all the DGPs and heads of anti-terror organisations and further added that he will be happy to receive comments from the state governments on the issue.

The Home Minister clarified, “The PM has expressed concern. This is an issue of national importance. All of us are agreed that terrorism is a grave threat to our country which we all have to deal with. Fighting terror is a shared responsibility.”

OneIndia News