PM to visit Mumbai blast victims, his government denies intel failure

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is to visit the terror-hit Mumbai on Thursday evening. However, the timing of the visit is not been revealed for security reasons. Manmohan Singh is expected to visit at least one of the hospitals where people injured in the Wednesday triple blasts are being treated. He will review the security situation with the Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chauhan and other high officials. There have been also reports that the Congress president Sonia Gandhi is also to visit Mumbai. Chidambaram calls the triple blasts in Mumbai as a coordinated terror attack and also claims that there have been no prior input intellingence on the triple blasts that have happened in the previous night. The Home Minister also added that he would not call it a failure of intelligence. He also added that the Mumbai police have developed a lot of capacity to deal with terror threats and successfully foiled a large number of terror threats. Hours after visiting the terror sites, Chidambaram said that 131 people have been taken to hospitals and the death toll was reported to be 18. According to Chidamabaram, the sites had been cordoned off and the state and central level teams would continue to determine the nature of the explosives. A top doctor at one of the hospitals where the bodies of the dead were taken for autopsy said an electric circuit, that may have triggered the blast, was found on one of them, leading to speculation that it may have been suicide bomber at work. The state's forensic lab has collected the necessary evidence to ascertain the nature of the explosives, the timer mechanism, the package that contained the explosive, the place it was located and the damage caused. Asked if these attacks would hamper the activity of the city and the country as a whole, he firmly replied that this will not attack India and still it will continue and to grow and prosper. He also said the investigators would keep in mind whether the blasts were aimed at destabilizing talks with Pakistan. Reported by       AR