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Attacks pose a challenge to govt: Naidu

Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has said that recurring attacks on places of worship of minorities pose a challenge to the state government, particularly law enforcement agencies.

Naidu, in a video conference with district collectors, superintendents of police and other officials on Tuesday evening, said, "The Guntur incident is a lesson for us. It is high time we catch the culprits."

He asked district collectors to meet religious heads of local places of worship and seek their co-operation in maintaining peace and order. He said that peace committees should be activated. He also asked police officials to keep a watch on suspicious persons and conduct frequent searches at lodges and other places to check crime.

He felt that the police could not gather proper evidence from the scenes of crime. Miscreants in various parts of the state have targeted four churches, two Christian cemeteries, a Christian congregation, a temple and a mosque recently.

He said the government had announced a Rs 25 lakh reward for clues on the identity of the culprits "because we want to get at them at the earliest".

With regard to the bomb explosions and detection of improvised explosive devices, he said that potassium chloride, ammonium nitrate, white detonating wires, 1.5 volt batteries and timer devices were used. The police would have to trace the source of these materials. "The police has failed to get fingerprints and footprints of the culprits. We can get these from the scene of offence within an hour of the incident. It is important to press dog squads into service immediately after such incidents,'' he said.

He said that one group or organisation could be behind all the incidents. "They want to create a law and order problem. We are already facing lot of problems, such as (left-wing) extremism in Telangana, factionalism in Rayalaseema and now there is this threat from communal elements in various places. We face the menace of fake currency notes, bogus chit funds and finance companies and even fake white ration cards," he explained.

Naidu has sought all details of police investigations into incidents where minorities or their places of worship and other religious places have been targeted.

He told district police officials to activate peace committees and hold regular interactive sessions to educate people on problems posed by communal elements. "We have to sensitise mandal revenue officers and station house officers to keep a close watch to ensure that no untoward incidents occur," he said, and warned that there are chances of such incidents occurring at public places.

"The government is keen to protect prayer halls and places of worship of all communities. The police, particularly the intelligence wing, will have to keep strict vigil, especially on days of worship.

He said the agitation by opposition parties against the power tariff hike had put tremendous pressure on an over-stretched police force. He asked police officers to tell their men not to behave high-handedly in dealing with protestors. "You have to strike a balance, If the protestors are behaving democratically, there is no need to resort to a cane-charge," he told them. He said that organising road blockades for several hours was not a democratic form of protest.

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