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NEW DELHI: Serial blasts in Bodh Gaya despite repeated alerts may give the Centre an opening to revive the debate on the controversial anti-terror body, National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), which could not see the light of day due to strong opposition from non-Congress chief ministers including Bihar's Nitish Kumar.
Though an attempt is made to push the proposed central body after every terror attack in the country, it may be different this time as it is believed that it would have been difficult for Bihar Police to ignore the warnings had a body like NCTC been there for coordination and final action.
Since the central anti-terror body is conceived in such a way that officials posted in it would not leave any piece of information unattended whether it is meant for strengthening security apparatus or for conducting operations, the arrangement could have prevented attacks like the one in Bodh Gaya on Sunday and in Hyderabad in February.
The Andhra Pradesh capital too faced serial blasts despite the state police being warned of terror attacks much in advance. Central agencies, in fact, had sent three alerts a week before the deadly attacks in Dilsukhnagar left 16 persons dead and 120 injured on February 21.
Officials in the home ministry said though there were a number of examples to justify the Centre's plan to set up NCTC, these two terror incidents which took place despite intelligence inputs may give them a handle to push states to see reason behind the move.
In the backdrop of the Bodh Gaya incident, officials believe that the terror attack on the temple town may persuade the Bihar CM to soften his opposition to the anti-terror hub.
"The delay in setting up of NCTC will continue to hamper the government's anti-terror initiatives. The sooner those who oppose it realize its importance, the better for the country," an official said.
Like many other non-Congress chief ministers including Narendra Modi (Gujarat), Mamata Bannerjee (West Bengal), Naveen Patnaik (Odisha) and J Jayalalitha (Tamil Nadu), Kumar too had objected to the anti-terror body saying it would create 'operational' problems within the federal system.
Though the home ministry had addressed their two key concerns by placing NCTC out of Intelligence Bureau and removing its operational powers (search, seizure and arrest), it could not take those states on board. The states rejected the new draft of the anti-terror body when they met here during the chief ministers' conference on internal security on June 5.
Besides suggesting a "better option to strengthen and develop NIA than to create another organization", Kumar had said that "if the Centre considered it expedient to form an organization like NCTC, it should be done through legislation in Parliament".
Since there was no consensus on NCTC, home minister Sushilkumar Shinde dumped the proposal and asked officials to concentrate on strengthening the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) which, he said, was working perfectly in terms of sharing intelligence.
Link - Centre may make fresh attempt to push NCTC - The Times of India
Though an attempt is made to push the proposed central body after every terror attack in the country, it may be different this time as it is believed that it would have been difficult for Bihar Police to ignore the warnings had a body like NCTC been there for coordination and final action.
Since the central anti-terror body is conceived in such a way that officials posted in it would not leave any piece of information unattended whether it is meant for strengthening security apparatus or for conducting operations, the arrangement could have prevented attacks like the one in Bodh Gaya on Sunday and in Hyderabad in February.
The Andhra Pradesh capital too faced serial blasts despite the state police being warned of terror attacks much in advance. Central agencies, in fact, had sent three alerts a week before the deadly attacks in Dilsukhnagar left 16 persons dead and 120 injured on February 21.
Officials in the home ministry said though there were a number of examples to justify the Centre's plan to set up NCTC, these two terror incidents which took place despite intelligence inputs may give them a handle to push states to see reason behind the move.
In the backdrop of the Bodh Gaya incident, officials believe that the terror attack on the temple town may persuade the Bihar CM to soften his opposition to the anti-terror hub.
"The delay in setting up of NCTC will continue to hamper the government's anti-terror initiatives. The sooner those who oppose it realize its importance, the better for the country," an official said.
Like many other non-Congress chief ministers including Narendra Modi (Gujarat), Mamata Bannerjee (West Bengal), Naveen Patnaik (Odisha) and J Jayalalitha (Tamil Nadu), Kumar too had objected to the anti-terror body saying it would create 'operational' problems within the federal system.
Though the home ministry had addressed their two key concerns by placing NCTC out of Intelligence Bureau and removing its operational powers (search, seizure and arrest), it could not take those states on board. The states rejected the new draft of the anti-terror body when they met here during the chief ministers' conference on internal security on June 5.
Besides suggesting a "better option to strengthen and develop NIA than to create another organization", Kumar had said that "if the Centre considered it expedient to form an organization like NCTC, it should be done through legislation in Parliament".
Since there was no consensus on NCTC, home minister Sushilkumar Shinde dumped the proposal and asked officials to concentrate on strengthening the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) which, he said, was working perfectly in terms of sharing intelligence.
Link - Centre may make fresh attempt to push NCTC - The Times of India
