Government was aware of an impending attack, says Patil

The states, on their part should take measures to thwart the designs of terrorist outfits.

Earlier, Shivaraj Patil visited Lumbini Park and Gokul Chat Bhandar. He also held a review meeting with Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, state Home Minister K Jana Reddy and senior state officials.

He declined to elaborate on who could have been behind the blasts saying such information should not be discussed openly. The Union Home Minister also promised to extend all help to the state Government in this regard. “We have to create an ambience that such incidents should not take place in future. Timely action alone can prevent any such happenings. But the task is challenging given the size of the country,” he said.

Asked for his reaction to BJP leader LK Advani’s observation that scrapping of POTA was one of the reasons for the occurrence of such incidents, the Union Minister shot back: “We had done what we felt was the best for the nation. The same was the case with the BJP. I don’t think POTA alone would be able to prevent such incidents.” He said this was the time to cooperate with one another instead of indulging in a blame-game.

Later in the day, Patil returned to New Delhi and briefed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the blasts. The briefing was attended by National Security Adviser M K Narayanan, Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta and Director Intelligence Bureau P C Haldar.