By IANS
Bangalore : Karnataka will raise an anti-terrorist squad (ATS) to counter the growing menace of terrorism in the state, especially in this silicon hub of India, Home Minister M.P. Prakash said here Tuesday.
Even as the high-level meeting between Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, Prakash and the top police brass to discuss the formation of the ATS failed to materialise, the minister said in the legislative assembly that the squad would replicate the one in Mumbai.
"We will raise the ATS similar to the one operating in Mumbai. The best men from the state police and outside will be recruited and trained to counter any terror threat or terror attacks in the Bangalore metropolitan area," Prakash said during a discussion on the alleged involvement of an engineer and two doctors from Bangalore in the failed terror attacks in London and Glasgow last month.
The state plans to peg the salaries of the ATS personnel at 30 percent higher than that of the regular police force. In addition, the children of the squad members will be given free education and special security would be provided for their families.
"The squad will work in unison with other police personnel and should be able to anticipate terror attacks so as to nab the perpetrators in time. The finance ministry had approved the ATS proposal," Prakash stated.
Meanwhile, the high-level meeting was postponed to Wednesday as Kumaraswamy was busy in the assembly, replying to a debate.
"The meeting could not be held as Kumaraswamy and Prakash were held up in the assembly till late Tuesday. It has been rescheduled to Wednesday," an official from the chief minister's office told IANS at the Vidhan Soudha.
On the terror suspects – Kafeel Ahmed, his brother Sabeel and their cousin Mohammed Haneef – who all hail from Bangalore, Prakash said it was regrettable that even educated youth were being drawn into the vortex of terrorism.
"It is a sensitive issue. We need to find out how they have been misguided by some terror groups operating outside the country. The city police are already investigating the case and collecting information on the trio's alleged involvement in the British car bomb blasts," Prakash said in the lower house.