HYDERABAD, (India): India must expand its police force to tackle terrorism, the home minister said on Wednesday, after two bombs killed 42 people in the southern city of Hyderabad.

“The time has come when it is necessary for the union government as well as the state government to expand the police force,” Home Minister Shivraj Patil told parliament.

He said many states had yet to follow recommendations to spend more on policing — which in India is under the jurisdiction of the states — leaving the country with one of the lowest ratios of police to people in Asia. “In Thailand for 228 people there is one policeman,” said Patil. “But in India for 720 people there is one policeman.” He said that neighbouring Pakistan also had a higher ratio of police to people than India.

The remarks came as the ruling Congress party government was accused by the opposition of not doing enough to curb terror attacks, after the deadly blasts on Saturday in a packed outdoor auditorium and a busy food outlet.—AFP