Mumbai attacks spark anger at failure to thwart terror

Published on Thursday 14 July 2011 17:59

THE triple bombing that killed 17 in the heart of India's financial capital has sparked anger over the government's inability to prevent terror strikes despite overhauling security forces after the 2008 Mumbai siege.

Officials say they have made extraordinary security reforms since 10 Pakistani terrorists rampaged across the city nearly three years ago, but following this week's attack they warned they may never be able to guarantee a terror-free nation in a region plagued by extremism.

"We live in the most troubled neighbourhood in the world," said Indian home minister Palaniappan Chidambaram.

No terror group has so claimed responsibility - and investigators have no immediate suspects - in the bombings that shook three separate areas within minutes during Wednesday's evening rush hour.

He said the government had no intelligence warning. "Whoever has perpetrated this attack has worked in a very, very clandestine manner," he said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who flew to Mumbai to meet victims, called on authorities "to relentlessly pursue the perpetrators. They must be brought to justice quickly."

But many remained frustrated. "Why is Mumbai being attacked again?" said Uttam Jain, who works in a gold shop in the Jhaveri Bazaar jewellery market that was hit by one of the blasts. He said he was "disgusted with politicians who promise security, but do nothing after the media cameras are gone."

After the 2008 attack, the government expanded police recruiting and training, bought hi-tech equipment and updated its ancient police arsenal.

It established a National Investigation Agency to probe terror attacks and set up commando bases across the country - including one in Mumbai - so that rapid reaction forces could swiftly arrive at the scene of an attack.

Mr Chidambaram said state and national intelligence agencies were working far more closely than in the past and intelligence collection was far more extensive. The 31-month gap between attacks in Mumbai underscored the large number of foiled threats, he said.

However, the law enforcement system in the country was so badly degraded that even these changes have done little to increase safety, said Ajai Sahni, executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management.

He called the NIA "a tiny little organisation," that is badly under-resourced.

While the police have improved, arriving on the scene of the blasts within minutes, their training, forensic and investigative capabilities remain deficient, leaving them powerless to uncover terror plots before they are carried out, he said.

"We thought we were safe," said Anita Ramaswami, a 33-year-old accountant.

"But things still are the same and people in Mumbai feel vulnerable."

The sheer number of targets across a country of 1.2 billion, makes it nearly impossible to protect, officials said.

"It's very difficult to stop every single terror attack," said Rahul Gandhi, a senior leader of the ruling Congress Party.

At the scene of the bombings, investigators struggled to preserve evidence with plastic sheets as a driving rain washed away the bloodstains.

One bomb had been placed on a bus shelter, another was hidden under some rubbish on the road, while the third was stashed under an umbrella, officials said. All were improvised explosive devices made of ammonium nitrate with electronic detonators, authorities said.

"The IEDs were not crude and showed some amount of sophistication and training," said RK Singh, India's home secretary.