New Delhi, Sep 05: With intelligence warning further intensification of terror attacks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today sought closer cooperation between the Centre and States and asked Chief Ministers to personally monitor steps to improve intelligence generation and collection.

He also asked Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir and North Eastern States to be "specially sensitive to the nuances of each situation." Addressing a conference of Chief Ministers on internal security here, Singh proposed constitution of Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) to be headed by Home Minister Shivraj Patil and includes select Chief Ministers of the State to closely monitor the spread of the Naxalite movement.

Referring to the inputs by intelligence agencies, he said, these warned of a "further intensification of violent activities by externally-inspired and directed terrorist outfits in the country." The agencies have spoken about the possibility of more "fidayeen" attacks, use of suicide bombers, picking up economic and religious targets and vital installations including nuclear establishments and army camps, he said.

The Prime Minister said reports also suggested that "terrorist modules and sleeper cells exists in some of our urban areas, all of which highlight the seriousness of the threat." Regretting that terrorism has created a wrong impression of radicalisation of the entire Muslim community, he said the adverse consequences of the "prevailing insecurity" among minorities, especially Muslims, could be "extremely deleterious for our polity".

"The responsibility to ensure that this does not happen lies squarely upon all of us," he said.

"It is unfortunate that terrorism has resulted in certain sections of our populaton being targeted, with the result that a wrong impression has been created of the radicalisation of the entire Muslim community," the Prime Minister said.

It was imperative to embark immediately upon a "pro-active" policy to ensure that a few individual acts did not result in tarnishing the image of an entire community and remove any feelings of persecution and alienation from the minds of the minorities, Singh told the conference.

He cautioned that while dealing with terrorism, no innocent person should be harassed.

If a mistake is made, effective remedial and corrective measures must be taken well in time, he said and asked Government agencies to have intimate contacts with community leaders.

In some plain speaking, the Prime Minister said the States were not doing enough in filling up existing vacancies in police and other law and order agencies or improving the quality of State's special branches or toning up the security aspects.

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