NEW DELHI, July 14 (KUNA) -- The Government of India will take every possible step to prevent terror attacks in the future, said Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh while on a visit to the country's financial capital Mumbai, which faced serial bomb blasts Wednesday evening claiming 17 lives and injuring around 130 more.
Singh also said that the perpetrators of the blasts would be pursued relentlessly and brought to book as soon as possible.
Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, the PM said "I assure the people that the government will do everything in its power to prevent such attacks in the future. I have asked the concerned authorities to coordinate their efforts and resources to relentlessly pursue the perpetrators. They must be brought to justice quickly and be subject to the rule of law that they have sought to subvert.
"I seek the cooperation of all citizens in this effort. We owe this to the grieving families," he noted.
Accompanied by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the Premier also met the injured in the hospitals and enquired about their well-being. He announced financial assistance of nearly USD 4,500 for the kin of the dead and USD 2,250 for the injured, from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund.
Meanwhile, prominent opposition leader Lal Krishna Advani castigated the Centre Government for not adopting a strict anti-terror policy to check terror attacks. "It is not an intelligence failure. I don't accuse the government of that as it is a failure of policy," he added. (end) py.hb KUNA 142023 Jul 11NNNN