Bangabandhu conferred ‘FOSWAL Literature Award’ for his trilogy
— March 26, 2023RN Desk: The Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (FOSWAL) on Sunday conferred “Special Literary Award” to Bangladesh’s Father of…
Staff Correspondent : There was no credible intelligence input on the Wednesday night’s serial blasts in Mumbai, Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said on Thursday.
India is not ruling out the possibility of an attempt to derail peace talks with Pakistan by carrying out the explosions, Chidambaram told the media after visiting the sites of the blasts and the injured in hospitals. He said, “We will probe every hostile group. We are not ruling out anything. We have made it clear to the Maharashtra state police not to rule out any angle. The possibility of derailing Indo-Pak talks by carrying out the blasts is also not ruled out.”
The minister reached Mumbai hours after the blasts had rocked the Indian financial capital within a span of 15 minutes on the fateful evening, our correspondent in New Delhi reported.
On Thursday, he put the death toll in the blasts at 18 although Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar the pervious night had said 21 people were killed.
While the Indian home minister put the number of injured at 131, including 23 critical, Pawar had estimated the number at 141.
“There was no intelligence failure about yesterday’s (Wednesday’s) blasts. When there is no intelligence input about a particular incident, it does not mean intelligence failure. What it means is that whoever perpetrated the attacks has worked in a very clandestine manner”, Chidambaram said.
The home minister said, “We live in the most troubled neighbourhood. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the epicentres of terrorism and every city in India is vulnerable.”
Asked who were behind the blasts, Chidambaram said all groups that are capable of carrying out such attacks are suspects.
He said ammonium nitrate along with timer devices were used in triggering the improvised explosive devices in the Wednesday blasts.
Expressing “deep regret” over the Mumbai blasts, Chidambaram said “I’m sad that the second incident of terror has happened (in Mumbai) after the November 26, 2008, carnage,” in which 166 people were killed by ten Pakistani terrorists.”