Sri Lanka blasts: Why was travel advisory not issued to citizens if India had inputs, asks Ahmed Patel

Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel on Friday asked the Centre why they had not issued a travel advisory to Indians travelling to Sri Lanka if they had prior information about an impending terror threat.

"It appears from media reports that India has sent multiple advance warnings of impending terror attack to the Sri Lankan government. If so then why no travel advisory was issued for Indian citizens travelling to Sri Lanka prior to the attacks? Precious lives could have been saved," he tweeted.

On April 21, eight explosions rattled Sri Lankan cities of Colombo, Negombo, Kochchikede and Batticaloa as the Christian community celebrated Easter Sunday. Over 250 people were killed and over 500 others were injured in the serial blasts. After terror attacks, Sri Lanka authorities announced that 10 Indians died in the attack.

Former Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya visited the family of Vemuri Tulsiram, one of the Indians who lost their lives in the blast, in Hyderabad.

"Everyone knows terrorism is the biggest problem for mankind. Whenever Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits foreign countries he talks about eliminating terrorism. In India, everyone has to work together to eliminate terrorism from the country," he said after meeting the family.

The BJP leader also said Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao should have a Special Task Force (STF) team constituted to curb Islamic terrorist activities in Telangana.

"Hyderabad became safe haven for Islamic terrorist activities and a large number of people from Hyderabad, Nalgonda and Ranga Reddy districts are recruited by terrorist organisations. So we demand that the TRS government forms a special task force under the Director General of Police (DGP) to investigate these activities and make sure no such terrorist activities happen in India," he said.