"These Activities Can Be Controlled If...": Basavaraj Bommai On Autorickshaw Blast

In the wake of the Mangaluru autorickshaw blast, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said he would write to his counterparts in southern states for concerted and united intelligence sharing to check terrorism.

"A concerted effort has to be made. When I was the Home Minister, I had given a call to all the DGPs of the southern states (for intelligence sharing). Many people commit crimes and flee by crossing the state border. Borders are fragile due to which people from Kerala come here and vice versa," Mr Bommai told reporters.

Replying to a query on the blast case, he said: "These activities can be controlled if all the south Indian states unite and coordinate for intelligence sharing. I will write to all the chief ministers of southern states."

Blaming the fragile Kerala border as one of the reasons behind terror activities in Karnataka, Mr Bommai said, "Getting (terror-related) training in the neighbouring states and countries had become a continuous process."

Stating that there were bomb blasts in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Mumbai in the past, Mr Bommai said such incidents are under check after Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister.

According to him, 18 sleeper cells were busted in Karnataka and their members have been jailed when he was the state Home Minister.

The Chief Minister dismissed Congress leader Siddaramaiah's charge of intelligence failure saying that such incidents have taken place in the past as well and reminded him that terrorists were motivated by global events and not local events.

Citing examples of Bangladesh nationals coming into Karnataka illegally, he said, "The Karnataka government identified and repatriated many of them. The West Bengal government has left its borders fragile."

Mr Bommai said there are many reasons behind terrorist activities in the state which Siddaramaiah knows but he gives statements on these issues for political reasons.

On November 19, an explosion happened in a moving autorickshaw in Mangaluru. The police termed it a terror act and blamed the passenger, who has been identified as Mohammed Shariq, for the incident.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)