Terror spreads but Govt won't revive tough laws

From HNN Bureau

A day after twin blasts ripped through Hyderabad, initial investigations suggest the involvement of terrorist organisations based in Bangladesh and Pakistan. Forty-four people were killed in the two near-simultaneous blasts that occurred in the city’s crowded Lumbini Park and Goku Chat Bhandar areas on Saturday night.

The Andhra government has announced an ex-gratia of Rs five lakh for the families of victims.
While Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S R Reddy confirmed the involvement of cross-border terror organisations, the Centre doesn’t seem convinced enough.

Virtually ruling out revival of tough anti-terror laws like POTA, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil said on Sunday that despite having intelligence information on likely terror strikes, it was not possible to determine when and where terrorists could strike.

“We won't talk about the investigative leads in the open. Discussion on revival of POTA should be in Parliament and even POTA cannot prevent such acts,” he said, adding, “The country is very big and even if we have the information that something is likely to happen, sometimes we don't know when and where this is likely to happen."Patil made these remarks while speaking with journalists after a tour of the scene of Saturday night's twin blasts.

Patil refused to specify whether terror groups based in Pakistan and Bangladesh were behind the attacks and it was for investigating agencies to ascertain all facts about the explosions.
Asked to comment on statements made by BJP leader L K Advani that terrorist attacks could have been prevented if anti-terror laws like POTA were in force, Patil said "We did what we felt was right."