Karnataka to set up Anti-Terrorist Squad

NEW DELHI: The Karnataka government proposes to set up an Anti-Terrorist Squad exclusively for state capital Bangalore, which is in global focus after the detention of three of its residents for the failed terror plot in Britain.

The move comes in the wake of the detention of brothers Sabeel and Kafeel Ahmed and their cousin Mohammed Haneef in Britain and Australia respectively, state government sources said here. The proposed set-up would be on the pattern of the ATS in Mumbai city.

The need to insulate Bangalore from terror attacks was felt in the wake of recent developments, which have shown that terrorists have made the metropolis a prime target as it is home almost every multinational information technology company, the sources said.

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy today briefed Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil about the developments and preventive measures taken by the state police and home department.

Kumaraswamy, who was joined by state police chief K R Srinivasan, refused to give details about the discussions, saying "this a sensitive issue" that could be detrimental to ongoing investigations.

"I have briefed the Home Minister on developments in the state over the past 10 days. We have to take serious action and the state's intelligence and home department are capable of handling the situation," he said.

The Centre had given an assurance that it would provide additional funds to Karnataka to meet expenses for beefing up security, he said. 

Meanwhile, state government sources said efforts were on to sanitise Bangalore and to ascertain whether any sleeper cells of Pakistan-based militant groups like Lashker-e-Taiba existed in the city.

Asked about the presence of Al Qaeda or its front outfits in the city, the sources privy to the current investigations said the state police had already taken preventive measures and had so far not come across any leads in this regard.

The arrest of Kafeel Ahmed in Glasgow had taken city police by surprise and they immediately carried out a background verification, the sources said without giving details.

Officialy, the state government has been tightlipped on the issue, but the sources said a thorough check is being carried out in all airports to ascertain whether Bilal Abdulla, the Iraqi doctor who is an associate of Kafeel and was arrested in Britain, had ever come to Bangalore.

In a related development, the Karnataka government made it clear that no official from Australia had come to Bangalore to probe the background of Haneef, a doctor who has been detained in Brisbane.