Why delay in suggesting NIA probe into Coimbatore blast: Guv

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Governor asked why the state government took four days to recommend an NIA probe into the Coimbatore blast that happened on October 23. Governor RN Ravi, addressing a programme on Friday, said that there was ample evidence that the terrorists were about to strike in Coimbatore.

A former IPS officer, Ravi, also questioned how the monitoring agencies failed to pick up on the blast even as the perpetrators of the crime were on the radar for a long. He added that the car blast was an attempt to unleash a major terror act, and this was proved after a huge quantity of raw materials required for making IEDs was seized.

Ravi said, "We know that terrorists are enemies of everyone and friends of none, and we know that terrorists do not work in isolation and are part of a larger network. What they were doing was part of a larger conspiracy. Coimbatore has been a known place for harbouring terrorists for a long time. They have been trained and taken to Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan."

He claimed that since India is on the path of development and moving forward, its adversaries do not like the progress it is attaining.

"These adversaries do not have the capacity to take on India upfront, hence they were resorting to tactics like terrorism," Ravi said, adding: "They are trying to create problems in the country and using terrorism as a tool to achieve their goals," he said.

"It's a proxy war, the most sinister and secret way.... We need to be very alert," he added.

He urged the state authorities not to "go soft" on terrorists and speed up taking decisions.