Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday lauded the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for cracking the "dangerous terrorist module" and defended the government's decision on monitoring of computers by 10 security and intelligence agencies, asking: "Would this crackdown of the terrorist module by the NIA have been possible without interception of electronic communications?"

"Would this crackdown of the terrorist module by NIA have been possible without interception of electronic communications," he asked defending the recent government order powering 10 security and intelligence and investigative agencies to encrypt, decrypt and monitor computers.

Slamming the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said: "Were the maximum intercepts done during the UPA Government? Surely George Orwell was not born in May, 2014."

"National security and sovereignty are paramount. Life and personal liberty will survive only in a strong democratic nation - not in a terrorist dominated state," Jaitley added.

His remarks came a day after the counter-terror probe agency carried out searches at 17 places in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh and arrested 10 members of a newly-found IS inspired module, 'Harkat-ul-Harb-e-Islam', which was planning remote controlled or fidayeen kind of terror attacks on several political personalities, important security establishments and crowded places in Delhi and the national capital region.

The agency had also detained six others, who are suspected to be members of the group, and are being questioned.

--IANS

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