Malls in Bangalore could be soft targets for terrorists, says Prakash

Malls in Bangalore could be soft targets for terrorists, says Prakash

The Hindu

Adequate security planned for shopping complexes

# Chief Minister to hold another high-level meeting
# Explosive material being smuggled in along coasts


Bangalore: The Government, which is in continuous touch with neighbouring States, particularly Maharashtra, as also the Centre following the serial blasts in Mumbai on Tuesday, has to maintain vigil at what are called malls which have come up in Bangalore, apart from public buildings such as the Vidhana Soudha.

Minister for Home and Parliamentary Affairs M.P. Prakash told the Legislative Assembly on Thursday that apart from providing adequate security to the Vidhana Soudha and the Vikasa Soudha, which housed the State Secretariat, the Raj Bhavan and the Legislators Home, the police had also to extend adequate security to the growing number of shopping complexes (called malls by the builders) in Bangalore.

There were reports that select malls in Bangalore could be soft targets for the terrorists.

He said Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and himself had held a high-level meeting on Wednesday in which they had reviewed the overall preparedness of the police in the light of the intelligence inputs received from the Centre.

The Chief Minister had also spoken to Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil.

Mr. Prakash said based that on the information received from the Centre, the authorities had also sounded the owners of the malls and sought information on the support that they expected from the Government. The malls were expected to provide information on their requirements in two days, and thereafter the Chief Minister would hold another high-level meeting.

He said there was also information that RDX and other material used in blasts were smuggled in along the coasts and not by air.

Most of the people who were earlier involved in smuggling of goods, including gold, were largely the same people who were now involved in supplying RDX and such other incendiary material to anti-national elements. Small motorboats were used for the purpose and the coastal police had been put on alert.