Mumbai not truly safe since 92 riots: Chief Secy

Seeking ideas from corporate leaders and government agencies attending the conference,Gaikwad asked if the government should now think of going back to basics.

Mumbai has not been totally safe since the 1992-93 riots and serial bomb blasts and much more needs to be done by the government to assure investors that Indias financial capital is a secure city,Maharashtra Chief Secretary Ratnakar Gaikwad said on Friday.

A lot has happened in the last few years. Things have changed for the city. And if we were to ponder when was the last time we were really safe,we will have to go back to 1992, Gaikwad said at Mumbai Must be Secured. Now!,a security summit organised by citizens action group Mumbai First.

Gaikwad asked,Can we tell investors that Mumbai is safe? 8230;we will have to ponder how to make Mumbai,the financial capital of the country,a global financial centre. We have to work on infrastructure and security. Of course,infrastructure initiatives are happening8230;but on ensuring security,a lot needs to be done.

Seeking ideas from corporate leaders and government agencies attending the conference,Gaikwad asked if the government should now think of going back to basics. He said,Should we look at the system of beat constables? Can we have mohalla committees again?

Speaking about planning and execution of terror attacks,Gaikwad said none of us can believe outsiders can come without support from insiders.

Referring to his experiences during his postings in Naxal-affected districts of the state,Gaikwad said the security situation there remains precarious and even the district collector needs to prepare for a week in advance if he needs to visit a Naxal region. It is terrible. I dont know if there is any administration there, he said.

Additional Commissioner of Police in the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad,Sukhwinder Singh,revealed that 129 people wanted in connection with terrorism cases in the state were still at large. Singh,who presented a paper on Threat Perception,said cities such as Mumbai gave anonymity to trained youths waiting to strike. Post- 2000,with many youths trained in ISI camps,there are some trained youngsters who have still not taken the final step. While some could be stopped in the last phase,many remain anonymous,he said.

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With students coming from countries such as Afghanistan,Yemen,Sudan and Somalia,security agencies were also finding monitoring youth from strife-torn regions difficult because of language barriers. Stating that terror modules are working on new methodologies,he said that even though several Indian Mujahideen suspects were arrested in 2008,they were able to re-organise within a year. Their cadres from Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka are yet to be neutralised, he said.