Strengthening Mumbai's security top priority: Patil

Strengthening security to avert a 26/11-type terror attack will be the top priority of the Maharashtra government, Home Minister R R Patil said in Mumbai on Monday.

"Beefing up the security apparatus and improving coordination among concerned agencies would top my agenda," said Patil, who has made a comeback to the Home Ministry nearly a year after the attacks.

The senior Nationalist Congress Party leader had resigned after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, saying, "My conscience does not permit me to continue in the post". He was later made the party's state unit chief.

"Coastal security is already being strengthened. We will improve coordination with the Navy and the Coast Guard," said Patil. The terrorists involved in the 26/11 attacks had come via the sea route.

The first batch of Force One commandos, the elite force formed along the lines of the National Security Guards, is ready, the minister said. "The first batch has been trained and will be operational soon," he added.

The government will also speed up the modernisation of police force and strengthen the intelligence machinery, Patil said.