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Militants cannot scuttle peace process: Advani

Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani says the government will not allow militants to sabotage the peace process through subversive acts. He was reacting to the militant attack at the high-security Red Fort in Old Delhi on Friday evening.

The home minister told rediff.com on Saturday morning that there should be no doubt that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, which has announced that it is opposed to the peace initiative, would do everything to subvert it. "We are not going to be deterred by such acts, and the peace process will continue. We are taking adequate security measures in the capital to ensure that the militants do not get free run," he said.

Even as the minister asserted that the security agencies would take adequate measures to thwart subversive activity, the army and police began simultaneous investigations into the startling militant strike at the fort.

Two Lashkar-e-Tayiba militants entered the fort at about 2130 IST on Friday and killed three men, firing over 40 rounds, and walked away free. The army is unable to explain how the terrorists could attack the fort unhindered.

Confusion marked the remarks of army officials who informally accept there is cause for concern as the Red Fort is "one of our most prestigious areas". The army has a battalion, 7 Rajputana Rifles, stationed inside the fort, which was built by Mughal emperor Shahjahan.

Delhi's Special Commissioner of Police R K Sharma, currently the acting police chief, told rediff.com, "The army is looking into the security aspect, and how the militants managed to enter the Red Fort."

He said the police had recovered 40 empty shells of the Kalashnikov range. "We assume the weapons used are AK-47 and AK-56," he added. No one has been arrested and no weapon recovered so far. Commissioner Ajai Raj Sharma is on leave.

The killers entered the fort through the main entrance, the Lahore Gate, which faces Old Delhi's main market, Chandni Chowk. They escaped through the fort's rear entrance.

Senior police officers said the attack began soon after the electricity went off at the fort during the Archaeological Survey of India's son-et-lumiere show. The show is an impressive depiction of Indian history through an artistic play of sound and light, and is screened in the open courtyard inside the fort.

"Luckily when the strike took place the tourists had left. Otherwise, the situation could have been bad," an army officer said.

Electricity at the fort went off sometime towards the end of the show, plunging the monument into darkness.

The terrorists first killed Abdullah Thakur, a civilian contract employee with the army. Uma Shankar, a barber employed with the army, who ran to the spot on hearing the firing, was the next to fall. Naik Ashok of the Rajputana Rifles died on his way to hospital. The others died on the spot.

An army spokesman said the military is conducting an inquiry into the incident. "The inquiry will cover all aspects, including any lapses in security, which facilitated their entry," he said.

The Red Fort houses several quarters of army personnel and some museums. It also has the army and Central Bureau of Investigation's interrogation cells.

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