ISLAMABAD A row between the centre and Punjab on the issue of security has intensified with federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik and provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah blaming each other for recent incidents of terrorism in Lahore.

“The centre is using intelligence reports for point-scoring,” Mr Sanaullah said on Tuesday as the federal and provincial ministers exchanged harsh statements.

He said the federal government did not share intelligence with Punjab about terrorist threats.

But Mr Malik claimed the federal government had time and again provided intelligence information to the provincial government and cautioned it about impending terrorist attacks. “Intelligence information is not a doctor's prescription,” he said.

Mr Malik said that if the Punjab government needed additional information, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and the law minister should visit Islamabad and meet him.

However, Mr Sanaullah told journalists that the chief minister and he had not received any such invitation from the centre.

The blame game between Islamabad and Punjab has been going on for a long time but it turned nasty after last week's suicide attacks on the Data Ganj Bakhsh shrine.

The federal government claims it had informed the Punjab government about the impending threat to the shrine and other religious places. However, Chief Minister Shahbaz has denied having received any such warning.