With the 60-hour horror in Mumbai having left the government with no option but to take — and be seen to be taking — some tough measures to fight terror, the Centre is planning to move swiftly to decide on some long-pending issues, including a new strong anti-terror law and the execution of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal.

There are signals of tough action from the party as well. Home Minister Shivraj Patil came under tremendous pressure from within the ruling Congress as the party's Working Committee (CWC) demanded accountability to be fixed for the terror attacks in Mumbai. The Congress High Command is likely to take a call on his fate shortly, according to party sources.

The three-hour long CWC meeting here on Saturday evening witnessed a heated debate on internal security with many senior leaders criticising intelligence failure and the role of the Home Minister. According to Congress sources, Patil's position was becoming “untenable” given the “mood” in the highest decision-making body in the party.

The ruling party wanted to send out some strong signals about its intent on the internal security front. While many new drastic administrative measures are proposed to be taken in the immediate future, Congress leaders wanted accountability to be fixed. “Some heads are set to roll now,” said a senior party leader.

Top government sources told The Sunday Express that the Centre had already made up its mind on a number of other proposals to fight terrorism such as a massive modernization of police forces and setting up of a central investigating agency, and these would be announced “within the next few days”.

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