Mumbai, March 23: The government has come up with the idea of assessing the character of foreigners staying in the state and keeping a strict vigil on their activities.
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“We will check the records of foreigners and seek character certificates from their respective countries,” home minister RR Patil said in the legislative council on Monday. “If we find that they have a dubious record, we will ask their countries to take them back.”
Patil was replying to a calling-attention motion on last month’s German Bakery blast in Pune. The issue of foreigners was raised by the Shiv Sena’s Neelam Gorhe. “What steps has the government taken to keep a check on foreigners,” she asked.
Patil said, “We have already started checking foreigners’ visas and taking action against suspect people.” He appealed to citizens to alert the police if they spotted anything suspicious.
The police already have a rule in place that requires flat-owners in Mumbai to inform them if they give out their premises toforeigners. Hotels and lodges in the city have also been told to inform the police about guests from abroad. The owner of a South Mumbai flat, where US terrorist David Coleman Headley stayed for more than six months, had failed to inform police about his presence in the city.
Patil admitted in the council that the state had received specific intelligence alerts about a possible terrorist strike at Chabad House and Red Temple in Pune. On the day of the blast, chief minister Ashok Chavan had said the state had had no inkling about a possible attack. The Centre, however, said it had issued an alert in October 2009.
Patil asserted that the state police was competent to investigate the German Bakery blast but would not hesitate to seek the help of other agencies like the National Investigation Agency, CBI, IB, and the anti-terrorism squads of other states. Last week, he had rejected an opposition demand to hand over the probe to the CBI.
“Terrorists are changing their techniques every time,” Patil said.
“We can neither deploy police everywhere nor frisk every single
person. There is only one solution — to strengthen the intelligence system. For that we have set up the Maharashtra Intelligence Academy. The first batch of this academy has completed its training and will be operational soon.”
—Agencies