High alert in Karnataka after Delhi blasts

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa instructs the police to be on high alert throughout the state following the serial blasts in Delhi.

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa on Sunday instructed the police to be on high alert throughout the state following the serial blasts in Delhi in which at least 20 people were killed and over 100 injured.

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Yeddyurappa held a meeting with senior civil and police officials Sunday morning to review the security situation in the state, in particular Bangalore which was the terror target in July.

"I have given the state police and district administration strict instructions to be on high alert," he told reporters after the meeting.

State Home Minister VS Acharya, Chief Secretary Sudhakar Rao, Principal Home Secretary Upendra Tripathy, Director General of Police R Srikumar, Bangalore city police commissioner Shankar Bidari and senior officials of intelligence and law and order wings of the police were present.

Yeddyurappa, the first Bharatiya Janata Party chief minister in the south, repeated the party's demand for strict laws like POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) to fight the terror menace.

He said the Delhi blasts took place "despite intelligence reports and warnings given to the central government".

"It was unfortunate that the central government was soft pedalling the issue of terrorism in the country," Yeddyurappa said.