India court remands captured militant for two more weeks

New Delhi: The lone surviving militant from last month's Mumbai attacks has been remanded by court for two more weeks, as India announced a massive overhaul of its security and intelligence agencies on Thursday.

Police in Mumbai backed off of plans to produce the only surviving attacker, Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, in court on Thursday for a routine hearing, citing security concerns.

Instead, a magistrate came to police headquarters and granted authorities permission to hold Kasab for a further two weeks until December 24, public prosecutor Eknath Dhamal said.

A security cordon was thrown around the downtown Mumbai building where Kasab was being held, and journalists were kept 200 metres away, their view blocked by a police van.

Kasab, who was wounded and captured by police in the first hours of the November 26 attack, has been repeatedly interrogated by authorities and reportedly offered key details about the planning of the assault and those responsible for it.

Meanwhile, India announced an overhaul of the countries intelligence system.

Among the new measures, the government will move to create a national investigative agency, beef up coastal security forces, better train local police and strengthen anti-terror laws, said Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, the country's top law enforcement official.

"Given the nature of the threat, we can't go back to business as usual," Chidambaram said in a speech to India's Parliament, adding he would "take certain hard decisions to prepare the country and people to face the challenge of terrorism."

The shake-up represents the government's first detailed response to widespread public anger over security and intelligence failures in the attacks. Chidambaram has previously apologised for government "lapses" in the assault.