High alert for riots report

Mumbai, Aug 5: The Srikrishna Commission's report on the 1992-93 Mumbai riots, which had been lying like a pack of explosives, would be t...

Mumbai, Aug 5: The Srikrishna Commission8217;s report on the 1992-93 Mumbai riots, which had been lying like a pack of explosives, would be tabled in the state Legislative Assembly tomorrow amidst the tightest possible security arrangements in the city.

The report which probed the communal holocaust in the aftermath of the demolition of Babri Mosque has turned out to be one of the most sensitive documents that the three and half year old coalition government handled during its tenure.

The Chief Minister, Manohar Joshi, today assured the state Legislative Assembly that the report would be tabled along with an Action Taken Report in the House. The government would inform the Mumbai High Court about its decision today itself, the Chief Minister added.

The city police has made elaborate security arrangements to maintain peace in the city. 8220;We have made all necessary arrangements to ensure that ISI agents and other anti-social elements do not get an opportunity to create mischief after tabling of the report,the Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde told the House.

Reassuring the House he said that six battalions of Rapid Action Force, adequate number of companies of Central Reserve Police Force have been put on alert long with the deployment of State Reserve Police in sensitive areas to deal with any eventuality.

The issue was raised by the Leader of the Opposition, Madhukarrao Pichad, who wanted a firm commitment from the State Government about the date on which the report would be tabled.

Earlier during the Question Hour BJP member Kirit Somaiya wanted to know how many ISI agents had infiltrated in India on unauthorised passports. Replying the question, the deputy chief minister said no cases of such unauthorised infiltration had come to light. However, there were some cases of Pakistani citizen overstaying in India after the expiry of visa. When asked the exact number, Munde revealed that 1,159 such cases were detected between 1980 to 1998. The government had been resorting to legal course of deportingsuch foreigners, Munde added.

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The minister of state of Home, Gajanan Kirtikar, pointed out that the government was leaving no stone unturned to ensure tranquillity in the city. He said that there had been apprehension about certain forces committing mischief after tabling of the report. But the police and the administration had taken adequate measure to prevent any untoward incident.