BENGALURU: The arrest of three suspected IM operatives on Thursday has once again exposed the city as a safe haven for terrorists and sleeper cells. Right from 1991, when the LTTE ultras took shelter in the city after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, to the recent arrest of Mehdi Masroor Biswas, various terror outfits have chosen Bengaluru as a hideout.
Even the police do not have a concrete answer for why terror organisations choose Bengaluru. The reason they cite is, the city has over one crore population and the terrorists feel that they can go unnoticed.
“Not only Bengaluru, most metropolitan cities in the country are facing the same problem. It’s quite understandable why terrorists choose such cities.
As people of all strata and religion stay here, they (terrorists) think they can easily find a safe spot and go unnoticed. To some extent it’s true, but not completely,” a senior officer said.
He said there are agencies constantly monitoring the activities of terror suspects. “Whoever it is and wherever they are, the intelligence agencies will be tracking their every movement, if terrorists or sleeper cells are under their radar. It is not correct to conclude that Bengaluru, for that matter any other city, is a safe place to hide for terrorists.”
He also opined that the role of public in tracking down terrorists was also important. “Instead of always depending on police, even the public has to be on alert.
They need not spend much time for this. All they need to do is know their neighbours and have basic details about them. Whenever there is some suspicion, they should alert police about it,” he added.
Additional Commissioner of Police (Law & Order) Alok Kumar said, “No city can be labelled as ‘safe haven’ for terrorists. It all depends on the planning of the terror groups on where there operatives should be and where the attack should be carried out.
And for the police, it’s a matter of intelligence-sharing and constant watch of suspicious people. Besides, there are special teams to monitor and address such issues.”
