'State among new bases for terror’

In a startling revelation, Ajit Kumar Doval, former director of Intelligence Bureau, on Monday claimed that there have been no fresh recruitments of terrorists or jihadis from Jammu and Kashmir. Instead, the recruitment base has shifted to other parts of the country, including Maharashtra.

Doval, a 1958 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, said this during a seminar — ‘Countering Terrorism in India — Challenge of the 21st Century’. The seminar was organised at Mumbai University in collaboration with SIES College, the Mumbai and Indian Council for Social Sciences Research and the American Center, Mumbai.

According to Doval, Pakistan has become the epicentre of terrorism. “A recent study revealed that 95,000 weapons seized by the Indian Army and 7,000 quintal of RDX seized by the Border Security Force over the last few years in Kashmir were manufactured in Pakistan. It further said that about 11,500 Pakistani men were prepared to carry out attacks in India,” he said.

Talking about ways to tackle terrorism, Doval said there was a need to strengthen
the internal and external securities.  David Tyler, acting consul general, US Consulate, Mumbai, was also present at the seminar.

Tyler said, “I have experienced terrorism several times during my tenure in Israel and in other countries. I would like to say that whenever there is an attack on the US or against its citizens, immediate steps are taken  to rectify the loopholes that led to it.”