The Hindu : Red alert, and then the second blast

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Tuesday, Aug 26, 2003

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Red alert, and then the second blast

By Our Special Correspondent

MUMBAI AUG. 25. The second blast took place soon after a `red alert' following the first one.

An intelligence official said in exasperation ``we have issued so many red alerts, but have not been able to prevent any of these blasts.''

Apparently, no specific intelligence inputs were available, though ``periodically we receive information that a group has infiltrated the city'' and ``may create trouble'' but noting specific comes up which can pre-empt a blast, a source confirmed.

That is why, when after the last blast — the one in a bus near Ghatkopar in which four persons were killed — the Centre asked Maharashtra to beef up its intelligence capability, the State simply asked the Intelligence Bureau to join in by training its personnel.

``We did not want to make this public,'' the source told The Hindu but it is a fact that ``intelligence is so much of chance, so much of being alert'' and required ``a lot of sensitivity to shift the chaff from the grain.'' Therefore, ``we associated the IB with upgrading our skills.''

When asked if there was a spell after which a `red alert' ceased to be in operation, the Chief Minister, Sushilkumar Shinde said ``the police have to be alert all the time.'' Asked if there was an intelligence failure, he said ``one cannot say anything at this point of time.''

But soon after the first blast, and issuance of the fresh `red alert', several points in the city were identified for stopping people and checking vehicles. How long this `red alert' would last, is not known.

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