Ahmedabad, Jan 22, 2020: MLA and former minister U T Khader has blamed intelligence failure over the incident of finding an explosive device at the Mangaluru International Airport on Monday.
Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday, Khader, while referring to today’s development wherein the accused surrendered at the IGP office in Bengaluru, questioned why the police could not apprehend the accused even before he landed in Bengaluru. Despite police gathering clues, the accused had managed to escape to Bengaluru, Khader said and attributed this to intelligence failure.
’Those behind Adithya Rao should be traced’
The State government should ensure that the city police traced those behind Aditya Rao’s actions and unravel the whole conspiracy to disprove the allegations made by the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy that the whole incident was stage-managed, said Mangaluru MLA and former district in-charge Minister U.T. Khader here on Wednesday.
Talking to reporters, Mr. Khader said that it was difficult to believe that Aditya Rao alone could have made the explosives and diligently planted the bag near the flight ticket counter at the international airport here on January 20. “There is some force behind him. Those behind Aditya Rao should be booked,” he said.
Mr. Kumaraswamy has handled the Home department and has seen the working of the intelligence wing. “He has his sources. If he is making such observations, then the State government should disprove it by booking those behind Aditya Rao,” he said.
Mr. Kumaraswamy, he said, cannot be blamed when those in responsible positions, including Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister K.S. Eshwarappa, made unfounded comments linking anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests with the explosives incident. “These three elected representatives should apologise in public for making those unfounded statements,” Mr. Khader said.
The police intelligence network, he said, failed in tracking Aditya Rao’s movements after he had placed the explosives on the airport premises. “It is surprising that Aditya Rao managed to leave the city on Monday and easily landed at the office of the Director-General and Inspector-General of Police in Bengaluru on Wednesday. This cannot happen without the help of some unseen hands,” he noted.