Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Prevent bomb blasts' that was published in Newsband

Prevent bomb blasts

The low-intensity explosion in Bengaluru caused by the Militant groups claimed the life of a woman from Chennai who was on a visit to Bengaluru. Now the fact remains that India-based terror modules have chosen Bengaluru for repeated attacks. While New Delhi and Mumbai have seen attacks with the involvement of organisations from across the border, most of the explosions in Bengaluru have been traced back to Indian groups

True, it is difficult to prevent terrorists picking soft targets. Intelligence inputs on the possibility of such attacks are usually vague and non-actionable. A separate intelligence information cadre could help in data surveillance, and in tracking online activities of suspects, and prevent similar attacks on soft targets.

Police and intelligence agencies would be able to continuously improve and expand their surveillance to thwart terrorist attacks. However public could play a significant role in helping those agencies by being alert and vigilant. Probably the police and crime prevention agencies could give help and guidance to the public in this area.

It is important to understand one truth regarding terrorist related activities. No terrorist module can operate without a support base. The fact that Bengaluru has experienced repeated low intensity terrorist attacks tends to indicate that there are some highly motivated anti-nationals with sympathizers in the local population. These people are behind the low intensity bomb blast and probably lack the facilities or the expertise to make them of the intended quality. Probably they are only a handful, it is most important to bring them to book at the earliest. For, they have now gained some experience and if they are able to get away, they will have greater confidence and may attack again in the future.

It's not proper to conclude about the forthcoming danger just by seeing the magnitude of the present attack. If we hurt their ego by not considering them dangerous, they would surely attempt for an attack of higher magnitude next time to satisfy themselves. So it's more important to find the people behind this and their intention rather than keeping the issue aside and not considering it as a threat. Every big thing starts from a small one.

It is reported that CCTV budget is not utilized and the restaurant where the attack happened did not have CCTV. The focus should be as much on prevention, which is still not the case.