Terror activities: Basavaraj Bommai to write to his counterparts in South India on coordinated effort

Hassan/Mangaluru

Stressing the need for concerted efforts by all States in South India to stop terror activities, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has said he will write to his counterparts in the neighbouring States on this issue.

He told presspersons at Halebid in Belur taluk on Wednesday that when he was the Home Minister he had appealed to the Director-Generals of Police of all South Indian States to launch joint efforts to identify sleeper cells.

“We identified 18 sleeper cells in Sirsi, Bhatkal, Bengaluru, and other places and sent them to jail. They get trained, commit crimes in a State and escape to a neighbouring State. We have been making efforts to arrest them. Hence, I told the DGs of all States of South India to coordinate and share intelligence. Now, I will write to all the Chief Ministers in this regard,” he said.

Meanwhile, in Mangaluru, Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said a decision on “formally” handing over the investigation into the Mangaluru cooker blast case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) would be taken in a day or two.

Director-General and Inspector-General of Police Praveen Sood said that in any case involving the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), a report is sent to the NIA immediately. “The State government sent a report on the November 19 Mangaluru blast to the NIA through the Ministry of Home Affairs on November 22 evening,” he said.

The Home Minister told reporters that investigations so far had revealed that before arriving in Mangaluru on November 19, the suspect, Mohammad Shariq, had visited Kanyakumari, Madurai, Nagarcoil, and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, and Kochi in Kerala.