The recent attack on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is the direct result of the central government's failure to cut off the arms supply by jihadis and external terror groups to regional militant outfits like the People's War group of Naxalites.

A  top official in the Union home ministry told rediff.com that this nexus is directly responsible for the increasingly bold activities of Naxalites in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. The outfits supplying arms include assorted jihadi groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir, Burma and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence.

"The (central) government is taking all possible preventive measures, but we are often hindered by faulty intelligence," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani has reportedly taken cognisance of the 'lapses' and has urged upgradation of the intelligence network.

Naidu's narrow escape in a Naxal ambush has forced the government to review security measures pertaining to VVIPs, the official said.

He emphasised that Naxalite groups do not pose a threat to central leaders as they generally target local leaders.

The clamping of the Disturbed Areas Act in certain Naxalite-infested districts of Andhra Pradesh had helped contain the activities of the terror outfit, the home ministry official said but lamented the stiff opposition to anti-terrorist laws like Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act and Prevention of Terrorism Act.

The Vajpayee government had failed to get support for setting up a central agency, modelled on the US's Federal Bureau of Investigation, to tackle the terrorist menace.

However, the official emphasised that the proposal had not been scuttled but shelved.