I had informed PM of terrorists' plan: Modi

Bangalore: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said he had "specifically informed" Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of terrorists' plans to target New Delhi though he did not have precise information on dates and places.

"Ten days ago, when I met the prime minister, the home minister [Shivraj Patil] and the National Security Advisor [M.K. Narayanan] in New Delhi, I had specifically informed them that terrorists being interrogated by the Gujarat police had indicated Delhi was going to be their next target," Modi told reporters.

"The terrorists had said they were going to target Delhi in the near future, though we did not have specific dates or places," he said.

A series of 20 blasts had ripped through Gujarat's main city of Ahmedabad on July 26, killing 53 people. An organisation calling itself Indian Mujahideen had claimed responsibility - and has also done so for yesterday's explosions.

The Gujarat police has been interrogating 10 suspects in the Ahmedabad blasts. Modi said innocent people were being killed due to "the soft policy adopted by the central government". He said the states should be allowed to frame anti-terror laws to combat extremism. Modi said he had raised the issue of terrorism earlier yesterday during the Bharatiya Janata Party's national executive meet. "If we want to fight terrorism, the country will have to unite against terrorists," he said.

In Bangalore, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani said: "Modi had alerted the prime minister and the home minister 10 days back," Advani said. He was addressing a party rally in Bangalore on the second day of the three-day BJP national executive meeting.

Arrests

The Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) activists had been arrested in Ahmedabad in connection with serial blasts there on July 26 and in Bangalore a day earlier.

"Modi's alert has not been heeded," Advani said.

He and BJP president Rajnath Singh, who also addressed the rally, condemned the blasts.

Advani said Modi had met the prime minister and the home minister to seek the central government's approval for Gujarat's anti-terror law.

Reaction

Cowardly act: Minister

Terming Saturday's serial blasts in the capital as a cowardly attack, Home Minister Shivraj Patil said the perpetrators would be severely dealt with under the law.

"It is a cowardly act by those who don't want us to live in peace. The people behind this act will be given stringent punishment according to the law," he told reporters here.

"We have just overcome the difficulties [of the previous blasts] and these cowardly people have hit us again. But I would appeal to people to stay together and not create panic," Patil added.

He also announced that the government would sanction compensation for the families of those killed and for those injured.

"Overcoming difficulties is a big challenge for us for the time being and I appeal to people to stay together and maintain social harmony," he added.