New Delhi:
The Centre has asked the Maharashtra government to initiate stern action against "erring" officials of its Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) for going public with evidence of cross-border terror links of two arrested terror suspects after the trail to their Pakistani handler went cold.
The state government has been asked to ensure that stern action is taken against the official so that such incidents can be avoided in future, official sources said.
The ATS came under fire from the Union Home Ministry for disclosing to the media more than required details of the probe into the arrests made on Saturday in Mumbai, they said.
The ATS had said that the phone calls received by the two terror suspects arrested on charges of planning attacks in Mumbai have been traced to Karachi in Pakistan. The two men were also associated with fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, it claimed.
"The phone calls the duo were receiving have been traced to Karachi in Pakistan. They had received calls on regular basis in which they were instructed to ensure that the targets get reduced to ashes," an ATS official said on the condition of anonymity.
The duo -- Abdul Latif alias Guddu (29) and Riyaz Ali alias Rehan (23) -- residents of suburban Bandra and Dahisar respectively were arrested near Matunga railway station in central Mumbai on Saturday.
The Home Ministry has already conveyed its displeasure to the ATS for compromising investigations into the case by revealing that the two men were in touch with a person in Pakistan identified as "chacha" (uncle).
In New Delhi, a senior Home Ministry official quipped that "Uncle is no more... we lost Chachaji", as the monitoring of interceptions by central security agencies had shown that the person had gone silent.
He termed the revelation of role of "uncle" as a "real hit on the head for us".
ATS chief Raghuvanshi had yesterday said that preliminary probe suggested the duo were getting instructions from someone called 'Uncle' from Pakistan to execute their activities here.
Both had conducted recce of three targets -- headquarters of public sector petroleum company Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONCG), Thakkar Mall and Mangaldas Market -- and were planning to carry out attacks which included sabotage and setting them on fire, he said.
The state government has been asked to ensure that stern action is taken against the official so that such incidents can be avoided in future, official sources said.
The ATS came under fire from the Union Home Ministry for disclosing to the media more than required details of the probe into the arrests made on Saturday in Mumbai, they said.
The ATS had said that the phone calls received by the two terror suspects arrested on charges of planning attacks in Mumbai have been traced to Karachi in Pakistan. The two men were also associated with fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, it claimed.
"The phone calls the duo were receiving have been traced to Karachi in Pakistan. They had received calls on regular basis in which they were instructed to ensure that the targets get reduced to ashes," an ATS official said on the condition of anonymity.
The duo -- Abdul Latif alias Guddu (29) and Riyaz Ali alias Rehan (23) -- residents of suburban Bandra and Dahisar respectively were arrested near Matunga railway station in central Mumbai on Saturday.
The Home Ministry has already conveyed its displeasure to the ATS for compromising investigations into the case by revealing that the two men were in touch with a person in Pakistan identified as "chacha" (uncle).
In New Delhi, a senior Home Ministry official quipped that "Uncle is no more... we lost Chachaji", as the monitoring of interceptions by central security agencies had shown that the person had gone silent.
He termed the revelation of role of "uncle" as a "real hit on the head for us".
ATS chief Raghuvanshi had yesterday said that preliminary probe suggested the duo were getting instructions from someone called 'Uncle' from Pakistan to execute their activities here.
Both had conducted recce of three targets -- headquarters of public sector petroleum company Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONCG), Thakkar Mall and Mangaldas Market -- and were planning to carry out attacks which included sabotage and setting them on fire, he said.
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