Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday reiterated its demand for an MCOCA-like anti-terror law in the states to combat growing terrorism in the country

Demanding a POTA or MCOCA-like law to combat terror, BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley said, "For the past two years a series of blasts have been organised by terrorists in different parts of the country. Investigations in these cases have yielded very little due to weak laws. We take this opportunity to appeal to the Central government to bring about a POTA or MCOCA like law to fight terror."

Jaitley said that since POTA was repealed intelligence gathering, investigations and trial in terrorist cases had been weakened.

"When POTA was in force bail was nearly impossible to get but in its absence bail is easy," he said.
 
Taking on the Union government, the BJP MP said, "Gujarat had passed the Gujarat Organised Crime Act four years ago, but the Centre has not given it approval. The Centre says law and order is a state subject. As such, they should not become a hurdle in passing such a law by the states."

While complimenting the Gujarat government for its breakthrough in the Ahmedabad [Images] blasts case with the arrest of ten men reportedly belonging to SIMI [Images], Jaitley told media persons that it was a 'shameful day' for the UPA government as three of its alliance partners had supported the short-lived lifting of the ban on the organisation.

"This is a shameful day for the UPA government. Three political parties belonging to the UPA -- RJD, Samajwadi Party and Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP -- have supported SIMI. Today it is clear that SIMI was behind the blasts. This shows that the intentions of the government in fighting terror are suspect," he said.

Additional Reportage: PTI