Terming the attack on the Central Reserve Police Force camp at Rampur a 'failure' on the part of the force, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday said the state government had alerted the central security agency about the threat much in advance.

"Rampur district officials some time ago had met the CRPF officials and asked them to take necessary precautions and the incident indicates laxity on their part," she told media persons in Lucknow and termed the attack as an act of cowardice.

Refusing to accept the attack as a failure on the part of her government, Mayawati said the state government had acted in accordance with the intelligence input about the threat perception to the CRPF camp and had also alerted the officials of the CRPF camp and 'failure, if any, is on their part.'      

Asked as to how terrorists reached the camp, the Chief Minister said even if the terrorists had reached the camp it was the duty of the CRPF, who had already been informed of the threat, 'to teach them (terrorists) a lesson.'      

In a pre-dawn attack, heavily-armed terrorists struck at a CRPF camp in Rampur, killing eight persons, including seven security personnel, and injuring five others.

Stressing the need for Centre's help in dealing with the rising cases of terrorism in Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati requested the Centre to work together in countering the challenge.

Taking a dig at the Central government, the chief minister said the terrorist influx was not a recent event as 'international borders of the country are unsafe and terrorists have already made inroads in different parts of the country.'

Centre had warned CRPF

Central security agencies had warned the CRPF and the Uttar Pradesh Police about the possibility of a suicide attack at their recruitment centres by Pakistan-based terror group Lashker-e-Tayiba.

According to sources, an alert was sounded to the police force and Central paramilitary force only a week back whereby they had been asked to remain vigilant especially during the New Year.

A senior CRPF official said the alert was of a 'general nature,' which might have been circulated in the aftermath of the November 23 serial blasts in Faizabad, Lucknow and Varanasi courts.

However, it was not immediately clear whether the suicide attack was carried out by Lashker or by another Pakistan-based terror group, Jaish-e-Mohammed.

The recruitment camps of paramilitary forces and Army have been on the radar of terror groups for long.