Post Bangalore blast, Shinde pushes for setting up NCTC

In the wake of the Bangalore blast, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Monday pushed for setting up the NationalCounter-TerrorismCenter to strengthen intelligence gathering. Making a statement in the Lok Sabha on the blast outside the Bharatiya Janata Party office in Bangalore, Shinde said the home ministry was also working towards putting in place an explosive tracking system.

"We also need to strengthen the intelligence set up of the states. We have been advising the states on this, but we have not seen much progress," he said.

Shinde said the government was also trying to strengthen human intelligence component of intelligence agencies, which is expected to start yielding results.

"We also need to quickly put the NCTC in place. We have now a revised formulation of the NCTC which takes care of the objections of the states," he said.

The setting up of the NCTC has been a bone of contention with several states contending that it affected the federal structure of the Constitution.

Underscoring the need for tighter checks on explosives, Shinde said the home ministry was working with the department of industrial policy and planning, and the national institute of smart government to put an explosives tracking system in place.

"But the problems will remain till the district magistrates and superintendents of police have the stocks and consumption of the licensed explosive users checked more often and more stringently," he said.

On the Bangalore blasts, Shinde said preliminary investigations revealed that an improvised explosive device on a parked motorcycle caused the explosion near the BJP office at 10:15 AM on April 17.

"No casualty was reported in the blast. However, 16 persons were injured including 11 police personnel," he said. He said forensic experts opined that explosive materials used in the blast could be nitrate compounds.

"Around 50 eye-witnesses' statements have been recorded and nearly 80 material objects processed from the crime scene to gather evidence," Shinde said.