'Arrest of SL national points to failure of intel agencies'

The arrest of a Sri Lankan national in Chennai for allegedly spying for Pakistan pointed to the 'failure' of the central and state intelligence agencies and they should coordinate with Coast Guard and police for effective vigil, former Union minister G K Vasan said here today.
"The Sri Lankan national's arrest in Chennai shows the failure of the intelligence agencies of the Centre and state. They should work along with police and Coast Guard to ensure effective vigil," the Congress leader said.
On September 10, a Sri Lankan national Arun Selvarajan was arrested in Chennai by National Investigation Agency (NIA) on the charge of spying on behalf of Pakistan.

Asked about the 100 day rule of BJP, Vasan said the government's actions differed from promises and there was only 'deceit' for the people. No attempts had been made to control spiralling prices and attempts were being made to scuttle important schemes of the previous UPA government, he alleged.
Vasan quoted Central government statistics to state that Tamil Nadu was lagging behind in development and urged the state government to accord preference for development projects which should reach remote villages.
On the coming civic bypolls in Tamil Nadu, he alleged that people have lost faith in the government after certain incidents in the run up to the elections and demanded that the Election Commission take steps to conduct it properly.

Referring to the onging strike by contract labourers in Neyveli Lignite Corporation, which entered the 13th day today, demanding regularisation of services, he regretted that the problem persisted despite several rounds of talks and said the state government should take responsibility for the failure of the tripartite talks.
Steps should be taken to achieve solution and ensure that production resumed, he said.