Latur, Sept 10 (ZEENEWS.COM) Strongly refuting suggestions that Maharashtra has become a "terrorist state", the Centre on Saturday said the blasts in Malegaon were the handiwork of anti-national forces intent on shattering communal harmony.

"The investigation into the Malegaon blasts has been going on in full swing. So far there is no breakthrough. But I can tell you that it is the handiwork of anti-India forces," Minister of State for Home Sreeprakash Jaiswal told reporters here.

He said the July 11 blasts in Mumbai, the terrorist attacks on Ayodhya and Varanasi and Saturday's bombings in Malegaon that killed 31 people were part of "a big conspiracy" by anti-national forces to shatter communal harmony.

Asked whether Maharashtra has become a "terrorist state", Jaiswal said it would be wrong to say so since terrorist attacks have been carried out in other parts of the country too.

"Maharashtra is one of the fastest growing states of the country. It is the financial capital. The attacks show that terrorists wanted to hurt our economy. But it is wrong to say that it has become a terrorist state," he said.

Jaiswal admitted there had been intelligence alerts about subversive activities by terrorists in Maharashtra during the Ganesh Utsav, but the festival went off peacefully. The Malegaon attacks, however, should not be termed the manifestation of an intelligence failure, he said.

"Intelligence has great significance in our security networks. We have to further strengthen our intelligence. If we could do that, incidents like Malegaon could be prevented. Our machineries are on the job," he said.

Security has been tightened across Maharashtra, including its long coastline and borders with neighbouring states. The people should be alert and foil all evil designs of terrorists, Jaiswal said.

Asked whether the increase in terrorist activities was a result of the lack of tough laws like POTA, he said many strikes, including the 2001 attack on Parliament, had taken place in different parts of the country even when POTA was in place.

"Even Maharashtra has more stringent laws," he noted. Jaiswal, who was here as the chief guest at a ceremony to lay the foundation for the National Disaster Management Institute, said the government was working on a new law to speed up trials so that the guilty could be punished swiftly.