Ahmedabad: Defence Minister George Fernandes on September 26 said that the terrorists who attacked Swaminarayan temple in Gandhinagar were better prepared than the ultras who had struck at Parliament on December 13.

Fernandes said while the terrorists who had attacked Parliament had full knowledge of the House topography as was evident from the documents recovered from them the ultras who stormed the Gandhinagar temple had come with greater preparation even though no such papers were found on them.

The terrorists, he told reporters, had information about the location of every nook and corner of the Swaminarayan temple complex including the places to hide.

This would not have been possible without a thorough knowledge of the complex, the Defence Minister added.

A Gujarat government spokesman earlier said that Fernandes "shared his opinion on the dastardly act with Chief Minister Narendra Modi at a meeting at Gandhinagar".

The Defence Minister offered Modi the services of Army, the spokesman said, adding however with peace prevailing there was not much need of Army any more.

Fernandes told the Chief Minister that he had the liberty to decide on the timeframe for complete withdrawal of the Army.

Meanwhile in Chennai, Union Law Minister Jana Krishnamurthy said that the hand of Pakistan was visible in the militant attack on the Swaminarayan temple in Gandhi Nagar.

"Intense investigation, now going on, will bring out the culprits behind the incident," he told reporters at the airport.

He said that it was regretable that the American Consulate in India had not expressed concern over the incident.

PTI