Mumbai, Maharashtra Absolutely Safe: R.R. Patil

Mumbai: As Mumbai observed the fifth anniversary of 26/11 terror attack, Maharashtra Home Minister R.R. Patil has assured that the "city and state are absolutely safe from such threats".

"I would like to assure all the citizens and countrymen that Mumbai and Maharashtra are absolutely safe and secure from any terror threats like 26/11," Patil told IANS.

Patil, (56) who was the state home minister during the terror attack, had been targeted by various quarters, especially the opposition parties for not being able to pre-empt and prevent the terror attack of Nov. 26-29, 2008, which left 166 dead and around 300 injured.

Barely a week after the terror attack, he had owned up moral responsibility for the numbing tragedy and resigned. He returned after the 2009 assembly elections.

Five years later, Patil is more assertive and confident as he speaks about the steps taken to secure the country's commercial capital and the state's most industrialized state from the plague of terror.

"The state and central government have jointly and individually initiated many measures to prevent and ward off such terror threats in the future, both from within and from the Arabian Sea route," he said.

Patil said that in the aftermath of the 26/11 attack, India has effectively proved to the international community that it was perpetrated by the Lashkar-e-Taiba. The sole surviving terrorist, Ajmal Amir Kasab, was hanged after a full and fair trial.