2 NSG teams sent to Ahmedabad
2 NSG teams sent to Ahmedabad
A security alert has been sounded in Gujarat and all metro cities by Central agencies following reports that 10 terrorists suspected to be from Pakistan have entered the western state to carry out attacks against high-value targets. Two NSG teams comprising nearly 200 personnel were rushed to Ahmedabad from Delhi. The national capital has also been put on high alert and security has been beefed up at vital installations, important buildings, malls, hospitals, schools and colleges and crowded places in Delhi.
Sources in the Delhi police said the input specifically mentions that 10 militants of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) having entered India via Gujarat and that they could carry out a terror strike in Delhi. Meanwhile, sources in Pakistani security agencies in Islamabad claimed that it was Pakistani national security adviser (NSA) Nasir Khan Janjua who tipped off his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval about the threat.
According to sources, security has been intensified across Gujarat, which cancelled the leave of all police personnel. An advisory has been issued to enhance security at all strategic locations, sensitive industrial sites and religious places, including the Somnath Temple, after intelligence inputs suggested that the terrorists entered Gujarat taking the sea route, they added. On the eve of Mahashivratri, Gujarat, as well as other metros and Jammu and Kashmir, are already on high alert. The Gir-Somnath district authorities in Gujarat have postponed Monday’s cultural event at Somnath Temple owing to the terror threat.
“A massive security operation has been launched and raids are being conducted by a police team, led by the South Kutch superintendent of police in the coastal areas,” sources said. In Kolkata, security has been stepped up at NSC Bose International Airport after an email threat that it would be blown up within 24 hours, sources said. The email was sent to the airport manager early on Sunday and it was claimed to have been sent from Germany, they added.
Gujarat DGP P.C. Thakur on Saturday held a meeting with NSG officials in Gandhinagar and announced that one team will be sent to step up security at Somnath Temple. Mr Thakur issued orders late Saturday night cancelling leave of all policemen. “Four teams of NSG have reached Gandhinagar. Out of these, three will remain here, while one team will go to Somnath,” he told reporters in Gandhinagar. The size of each team could vary between 50 to 90 personnel.
A Pakistani fishing boat had been seized by a BSF patrol party on Friday after its occupants fled after they spotted the security personnel in the Koteshwar creek area off the Kutch coast along the Pakistan border, heightening security concerns. In view of the January 2 terror attack in the Pathankot airbase, security agencies are not taking any chances and all possible steps are being directed to prevent any possible terror attacks, sources said.
However, sources in the Central security agencies refused to comment on reports claiming that Pakistan alerted Indian authorities about the possible infiltration of terrorists in Gujarat. According to reports, a high alert was sounded in Gujarat on Saturday itself after Pakistan NSA Nasir Khan Janjua communicated to his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval about the terrorist infiltration. Officials from Pakistani security agencies in Islamabad claimed that Mr Janjua talked to Mr Doval and informed him about the terror threat. Mr Janjua told Mr Doval that as many as 10 militants belonging to the JeM and LeT had entered Gujarat. New Delhi immediately informed the Gujarat state government about the threat and security forces launched raids in different areas of Gujarat, claimed Pak officials. The past few months have seen ups and downs in the Pak-India ties — the peak coming when Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise visit in December and the dip after the January 2 attack in Pathankot.
