Temple attack pre-planned: George

Union Defence Minister George Fernandes has termed the gruesome terrorist attack on Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar as a ‘pre-planned’ conspiracy and said that it was hatched in a manner similar to the attempt made to storm the Parliament on December 13.

Mr. Fernandes said the attack was not under the purview of law and order alone, but it had to be viewed holistically and comprehensive efforts were needed to quell the menace.

In his meeting with caretaker Chief Minister Narendra Modi later, Mr. Fernandes also offered to extend the services of eight columns of Army brought in the state to control any untoward incident.

The Union minister also lauded the state government and people of Gujarat for successfully overcoming the terrorists.

Earlier, Mr. Fernandes also paid a ‘courtesy’ visit to Pramukh Swami of the Swaminarayan sect in Sarangpur village near the city. He was accompanied by BJP MLA from Dhandhuka Bharat Pandya and BJP MP Ratilal Verma.

The Union minister was apprised of the dastardly happenings in the temple by Mr. Pandya, who was present during the whole operation launched to flush out the terrorists.

Republished from The Asian Age