Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: After facing sharp attack from Opposition as well as UPA allies on tackling the issue of terror in a "very casual" manner, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Friday assured the Parliament that government will not be slack in cracking the case.
Shinde made a statement in the Rajya Sabha on yesterday's blasts saying government will make all possible efforts to apprehend the perpetrators and masterminds.
Shinde said, “Alert was issued to Hyderabad on February 16, 19 and 20, that Pakistan-based terrorist groups may carry out attacks in a major city to avenge the hanging of 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab and Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru."
"The Centre will take firm steps in the matter and will never hesitate to take strong steps to tackle it,” he added further.
The Home Minister was however disappointed that intelligence reports were not taken seriously.
“Intelligence reports are often taken lightly because the reports that go say things like, 'stay alert for the next ten days'," Shinde added.
“However, now intelligence reports are more specific and we have better co-ordination between intelligence agencies,” he added.
Notably, Shinde reminded that the Centre always wanted to set up NCTC but many states had objected to the fact.
“We need to debate on these issues instead of dismissing them,” the Home Minister said.
Sushilkumar Shinde faced criticism from Opposition as well as from UPA allies, SP and DMK, who trashed his statement on Hyderabad blasts as "totally disappointing" and "devoid of any concrete and meaningful plan of action".
The Rajya Sabha earlier witnessed acrimonious scenes as Opposition members insisted on a debate before the Home Minister's statement on the issue.
After the Home Minister read out his statement amid noisy scenes, the House witnessed a verbal spat between Shinde and M Venkaiah Naidu with the BJP leader telling the minister that had he been serious on the issue, he would have rushed to the spot immediately after the occurrence last night and come to Parliament in morning.
Shinde countered it saying that after monitoring the issue for the whole night, he went to the spot at 4 am drawing angry reactions from Naidu.
"You have not done any favour to us. You have done your duty. The incident had happened at 7 pm yesterday. You should have gone there at 8 pm and come back by the morning. That shows your seriousness," Naidu said, who later staged a walkout for a brief period.
First Published: Friday, February 22, 2013, 17:33