'Terror outfits planned jehad in India after Guru hanging'

Following the Feb 9 execution of parliament terror convict Afzal Guru, nine outfits aligned to the United Jehad Council announced jehad in India and the Lashkar-e-Taiba also planned big terror attacks on iconic places in India, parliament was told Tuesday.

Minister of State for Home R.P.N. Singh, in answer to a question in the Lok Sabha, said the government "is committed to thwart any evil design/plan of terrorists or terror groups/outfits to carry out attacks in any part of the country in all forms or manifestations, as no cause can justify terror attacks".

He also said that all intelligence inputs about possible terror designs and threats by terror outfits are shared with the state governments.

"The government's Multi Agency Centre (MAC) has been strengthened and reorganised to enable it to function on 24X7 basis for real time collation and sharing of intelligence with other intelligence agencies and security intelligence inputs are shared with the concerned states...This has resulted in busting of several major terror modules," he said.

On Feb 9, 2013, an LeT spokesperson in a telephonic message to Kashmir News Service threatened retaliatory action by the LeT in the near future to avenge hanging of Afzal Guru, he said.

"In reaction to Guru's execution, representatives of nine terrorist outfits aligned to the United Jehad Council, including LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and Hizbul Mujahideen, organised a conference Feb 13 in Islamabad where the participants reiterated their resolve to set up jehad in India. The chief of LeT had a meeting with the top LeT commanders to plan big attacks to the iconic places in India," he said.