New Delhi, July 28
Even as investigators have indicated that the needle of suspicion for the Saturday’s blast in Ahmedabad is pointing towards the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), the political message is unravelling now. The blasts were carried out in the constituencies of the frontline BJP leaders, including that of Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
The people who carried out the blasts had a complete grip of the social fabric of the city and what could be the possible outcome. It was planned well and sent a political message, said sources in the Home Ministry here. The message was strong as the constituencies of four main leaders who were seen, as “Hindutva leaders” were targeted.
The targets were four veteran leaders. Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Ashok Bhatt, who is seen as important face in the BJP and Dr Pravin Togadia, the fireband Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader.
Four blasts have occurred in Modi’s constituency -- Maninagar. Sarkhej, another blast site is in Shah’s constituency while Dhanvantri Hospital in Bapunagar was run by Dr Togadia and his family for many decades. The blast in Raipur was right at the spot where Bhatt, a senior BJP leader held daily meetings with his supporters for the last several years.
Teams from Delhi that were dispatched after the blast have been amazed at the depth of strategic planning. The blasts were executed even when a ‘red alert’ was declared in Ahmedabad after the blasts in Bangalore, on Friday.
The level of top secrecy maintained by the perpetrators of the act had shocked the residents of the city. Most of the blasts were carried out in east Ahmedabad, which includes the highly sensitive walled city area. The accuracy in planning suggests that a local person was involved and he knew the past 25 years history of communally sensitive areas.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs today advised all states to step up vigil in crowded areas and ensure adequate measures for maintaining law and order.
The ministry is also preparing the groundwork for the meeting of the state Chief Secretaries and DGPs. This would be followed up by a meeting of the Chief Ministers. The plan is to review the security scenario and discuss measures to tackle terrorism. Notably, the states have been harping that the intelligence set-up’s in the states should be upgraded. Dates of both the meetings will be announced in a day or two.
Sources said the idea is to set deadlines to carry out tasks that need priority. The states have been demanding that the intelligence gathering capabilities of the states should be ramped up.
