INDIA ON RED ALERT over NEW YEAR 28-12-2010

India has issued a nationwide terror alert after receiving word that Pakistan-based militants are planning an attack over New Year's weekend. Officials have increased security in Mumbai, Goa, and Bangalore—specifically, at the Bombay Stock Exchange, Taj hotels in Mumbai, and software companies in Bangalore—and say that possible targets may include locations scouted out by American David Coleman Headley before the Mumbai attacks. Since Friday, Mumbai and Ahmedabad authorities have been hunting for four members of terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba believed to be in Mumbai and planning the attacks. Sketches have been released of the men, and police have stepped up security in public areas, and conducted house-to-house searches. Mumbai officials have not hesitated to issue terror alerts since the 2008 attacks left 166 people dead, and this is the third time this year that officials have issued a major warning.
New Delhi: The ministry of Home Affairs sounded a security alert across the country four days before the New Year festivities begin. The alert is specific for all locations that Lashkar agent David Coleman Headley recced. Information Bureau has picked up human intelligence which suggests that Taj Hotel could be attacked, following which security at all Taj Hotels, specially Mumbai's Taj Mahal hotel has been tightened.
The Home Ministry advisory came after a specific alert issued for Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Intelligence reports had suggested that terrorists from across the border have entered India with plans to attack Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Both Mumbai n Gujarat police have been asked to be vigilant. In Karnataka also, the threat of terror is raising concern.
Para military forces have been stationed in coastal Karnataka as inputs suggest terrorist could enter the state taking the sea route. Security forces in Goa too have been asked to be vigilant in the wake of the film festival and the rush of foreign tourists coming in for the New Year. People are advised to be vigilant and stay away from crowded places like markets and tourist places.

MUMBAI POLICE has released the sketches of four Lashkar-e-Taiba(LeT) suspects, who have reportedly sneaked into the city to carry out "violent" attacks with the aim of causing "destruction".

Issuing an advisory to citizens to remain alert, Joint Police Commissioner (Crime) Himanshu Roy told a news conference late on Thursday night that: "The four were identified as Abdul Kareem Moosa, Noor Abu Ilahi, Walid Jinnah and Mahfooz Alam. The four recently sneaked into the city to carry out extremely dangerous activity."

The police have set up dedicated phone number 02222633333 to enable the people pass on information about the militants and in the event of an emergency

JAI HIND
Rahul Vallamber

Red Alert in MUMBAI-AHMEDABAD- sketch of LeT terrorist in Mumbai - 27-12-2010

The Mumbai police issued a terror advisory on Thursday night, after receiving intelligence inputs about four terrorists sneaking into the city ahead of the festive season.

Four members of Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashker-e-Tayiba sneaked into Mumbai, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Himanshu Roy said on Thursday. The city police also released the sketch of one of the four suspected terrorists.

The four have been identified as Abdul Karim Musa, Noor Abu Ilahi, Walid Jinnah and Mahfooz Alam. The police have released the sketch of Walid Jinnah.

"We have information that they have arrived in Mumbai to carry out violent attacks intended to cause destruction," said Roy. He refused to divulge the nationality of the suspected terrorists.

Incidentally, the Centre had issued a terror advisory for Mumbai and Ahmedabad two days ago.

"The last time we had released sketches of terrorists was before Ganesh Chaturthi. Wide- publicity was given to the sketches due to which the festival passed off quite peacefully. This time too we want wide publicity so that people remain alert," said Roy.

He added that special teams of police officers would be keeping an eye on crowded places like railway stations and religious sites.

In case anyone has information on the four LeT terrorists, he/she can call up the Mumbai police's hotline at 22633333

Jai HInd
Rahul Vallamber

Indian Mujahideen claims responsibility for Varanasi blast (07/12/2010)

Terror group Indian Mujahideen Tuesday owned responsibility for a bomb explosion in Varanasi that killed a small girl and left 37 injured, saying it was to avenge the 1992 demolition of Ayodhya's Babri Masjid.
In an e-mail to media houses soon after the blast, the terror group said: "Indian Mujahideen attribute(s) this attack to the 6th of December that will haunt your nation of world's ‘greatest demoNcracy' until Muslims are paid back justly and fairly for the loss of their beloved Babri Masjid, the precious lives of their near and dear ones, their pride, dignity and self-respect."

The mail was sent from an e-mail ID alfateh00005@gmail.com.

The Indian Mujahideen, blamed for series of terror attacks in India, has been using unsecured WiFi connections for sending mails to media houses within minutes of the blasts in the last few years.

The home ministry said it was verifying the authenticity of the e-mail.

An official said investigative agencies were looking into and tracking the internet protocol (IP) address used to send the e-mail.

The security agencies say the Indian Mujahideen is supported by the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group.

The security agencies also believe that the Indian Mujahideen is one of many groups that has members from the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

The group claimed responsibility for the 2008 Jaipur bombings, Ahmedabad serial blasts and Delhi blasts.

Jai Hind
Rahul Vallamber

Blast at Varanasi's Dashashwamedh Ghat,1 killed and 37 injured on 07/12/2010

VARANASI: A two-year-old girl was killed and At least 37 people including four foreigners were injured in a blast at the Dashashwamedh Ghat here during the Ganga arati around 6.30pm on Tuesday. Many others were injured in the ensuing stampede. According to official sources, an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) has been recovered from a dustbin at the Varanasi blast site.

The girl identified as Sarita Sharma, who was with her mother for the prayers, died at Marwari hospital after the blast, according to IG(Varanasi) R P Singh. She was around two years, he said. It was not immediately known whether she suffered injuries in the explosion or in the stampede

The Ganga arati, which stretches across the Shitala, Dashashwamedh and Prayag ghats, is a daily ritual attended by 2,000 to 3,000 people, many of whom are foreigners. The ghats are near the famous Vishwanath temple.

A statewide alert has been sounded, ADG Brij Lal said.

The blast on Tuesday occurred on the stairs of Dashashwamedh ghat and was so powerful that big boulders on the stairs were thrown many metres away, eyewitnesses said.

The DIG of Varanasi range, Prem Prakash, said that the crowd was targeted. The injured have been taken to various hospitals in the city, including the district hospital.

The home ministry has sounded a nationwide alert with special stress on four major cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad - in wake of the blast in Varanasi. "A general alert has been sent to all state governments and they have been asked to stay on high alert," Union Home Secretary G K .Pillai said in New Delhi.
"It was low intensity blast which occurred at about 6.20 pm in which three-four people were injured. Subsequently we understand there could have been a stampede...as a result 15-20 people were injured. So roughly 20-30 people injured," he said.
According to home ministry sources, alerts have been issued to the four metropolis in particular.
They said a high-level team of the National Investigation Agency is also likely to visit the holy town.
Secretary for Internal Security at MHA, U K Bansal said, "We had alerted Uttar Pradesh Police sometime back. I am sure the UP police will take it as a challenge. There is no reason for panic."


Jai Hind

Rahul vallamber

Karachi blast,13/11/2010

No CCTV evidence in Karachi blast, says official

Islamabad, Nov 13 (IANS) It would be difficult to track down the suspects in the Karachi port city blast Thursday that killed 19 people because electricity supply to the bombed police station was disconnected and there was no CCTV footage, an official said Saturday

.
Authorities Saturday, however, issued sketches of two suspects piecing together the information from eye-witnesses. They include a youngster of around 22 years of age and another man in his mid-30s, who were amongst the 10 terrorists who attacked the Karachi police station that housed the targeted criminal investigation department (CID) office.

Inspector General Sindh Police Salahuddin Babar Khattak said 'the attackers came on two motorbikes and one SUV jeep. They fired from two sides before carrying out the blast'.
Ahmad Chinoy, chief of the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC)of Karachi, said: 'The Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) had disconnected the electricity of the CID police station a day before the blast, which meant that the CCTV cameras were not working when the explosion took place.'

'The lack of evidence in the form of CCTV footage has made it difficult for police authorities to find any clue about the suspected terrorists,' he said.
KESC spokesperson Ayesha Arabi, however, denied the claim and said the power supply was restored shortly afterwards.

Banned militant outfit Tehreek-i-Taliban claimed responsibility for the high-intensity attack, which also left over 140 people injured.

As many as 170 nearby houses were damaged in the attack while some offices situated on the same road have developed cracks.

The residents and the families of police officials killed in the blast are sitting at the debris and no alternative shelter has been provided to them as yet.

At least eight police officials patrolling the area were killed in the blast and the Sindh government has announced Rs.two million each and a plot in recognition of their sacrifice.
There have been reports in the media that six suspects arrested a couple of days before the blast for having links with Lashkar-i-Jhangvi were missing since the deadly suicide attack.
'The arms and ammunition of the police officials on duty as well as the suicide jackets recovered from the terrorists are also not being found,' a media report said.

'The exact situation will only be known after the removal of rubble,' said Javed Akram, superintendent of Sadar police.

Sindh Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza said: 'We are in a state of war and such attacks should not deter us from our resolve to fight extremism.'

Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah visited the blast site Saturday and said the terrorists could not entirely succeed in their designs after being stopped at the check-post. He said the new CID office will be built somewhere else instead of the busy downtown location.

An FIR has been registered against unknown attackers while the evidence collected initially has been sent to forensic lab.

Rahul vallamber

Terror mail sent by INDIAN MUJAHIDEEN to BBC (19/09/2010)

NEW DELHI: Investigations into the terror email sent by Indian Mujahideen (IM) hours after the Jama Masjid firing incident have revealed that a second-hand Nokia mobile handset purchased from a shop in Dongri in south Mumbai was used to send the threat mail.

However, the shopkeeper has no records of the person who bought the handset. Investigators believe that the terrorist bought a second-hand mobile to reduce the chances of getting traced.

A Tata Docomo prepaid mobile number — 897XXXX165 — registered at a fake Borivili address in the name of a woman was used to send the email on Sunday. "Analysis of the SIM card has further revealed that it was activated on September 14-15 and was not used for sending any message or email. It only contains welcome message from Tata Indicom. The GPRS which was used to send the email was activated on September 15. From the usage, it appears that it was a high-end handset," said a Mumbai ATS official.

A Delhi Police team, which is seeking help of Mumbai police has not made any headway from the email though it questioned the two men who sold the mobile and SIM card. Cops said that they are still awaiting the forensic report on the e-mail contents.

"It appears that the e-mail id — al.arbi999123@gmail.com — was created and then the IM mail was saved in the drafts. The email was created using a laptop or a desktop. The gmail ID was opened on the mobile at in Dongri and then the mail sent to media houses," said an officer.

Jai Hind

Rahul Vallamber

'Delhi attack on 19/09/2010'

The September 19 attack on foreigners near the Jama Masjid in New Delhi, days before the Commonwealth Games open in the capital, has created a scare in India and abroad.
Australia has issued a travel advisory to its citizens not to travel to India.
Justine Bowden, whose company Beltin Group will provide advisory and security to the Australian media during the CWG, says the delay in infrastructure development has affected the ability of counter-terrorism teams to train and plan contingencies for the sites.
In this interview Dr Bowden speaks about Sunday's attack at Delhi and what the thinking is in the Australian team, which is on its way to attend the Commonwealth Games.

Investigation into the Jama Masjid attack on Sunday have found that the email ID, al.arbi999123@gmail.com, which was used to send the mail to BBC after the incident was created using a California IP address. The Delhi Police have also tracked down another IP address in Mumbai.
Sources said the email ID was created using the United States IP address a few minutes before the blast. “The person then conveyed the ID and password to the email sender in Mumbai. The person in Mumbai then sent the mail using a Tata Photon Internet card that was procured on a fake identity,” said sources.
The Delhi Police are in the process of sending a letter rogatory (LR) to the US to seek information from Google on the person who created the email ID. Officials said they would ask the ministry of external affairs to expedite the request.
Sources said the Tata Photon card used to send the mail has not been traced yet. The dealer from whom the card has been procured has been traced to Dadar area in Mumbai. The Mumbai Police, with the help of the internet card dealer, have prepared a sketch of the person who purchased the card.
Meanwhile, a forensic team of the Delhi Police today visited the Jama Masjid spot where the incident occurred. Officials said four empty cartridges are yet to be recovered.

Jai Hind
Rahul Vallamber

41 killed in explosions at shrine in Lahore, Pakistan 01/07/2010

Islamabad, Pakistan -- Three explosions erupted Thursday in Lahore in and around one of Pakistan's holiest shrines, killing 41 people and wounding 175, an official told CNN.
District Coordination Officer Sajjad Bhutta in Lahore described the casualty toll as he was touring hospitals where the wounded were being treated.
Lahore Commissioner Khusro Pervez said 25 of the wounded were in critical condition and that the remains of two suicide bombers -- a man in his 20s and another in his late teens -- were recovered after the blasts, which occurred at the Data Darbar shrine complex.
One of the bombers detonated in the shrine's courtyard; the other in the shrine's lower lever, he said. Two of the fatalities were women, he said.
The first explosion, which occurred at 10:48 p.m. (1:48 p.m. ET), was followed five minutes later by a second blast, Geo TV reported.
The CNN affiliate aired surveillance footage showing the first attacker entering through a gate holding a bag. As he passed through a metal detector, alarms went off and the man ran toward an area used for ablutions and blew himself up.
Geo TV showed a second attacker entering amid the confusion a few minutes later and running upstairs carrying a bag. Then the video showed the explosion.
The third blast occurred outside the shrine; the timing of the last blast was not clear.
Geo TV reported that the heads of two bombers were recovered and identified. The bombers had arrived at the shrine on foot wearing 10 kilogram (22 pound) jackets that had been packed with ball bearings, it said.
A witness told Geo TV that one of the bombers was wearing the traditional loose-fitting salwar kameez, a turban and slippers.
"This sickening poison of extremism will be driven out of our nation and we will not be cowed," said Farahnaz Ispahani, a spokeswoman for President Asif Ali Zardari, in a text message to CNN.
"Peaceful worshipers have once again been targeted by those who want to destroy the fabric of this great country. We will not forgive or forget and we will get justice for all Pakistanis murdered in cold blood -- be they Muslim, Christian, Ahmedi or of any other faith."

Source BY GEO/CNN TV NEWS
Jai Hind
Rahul Vallamber

Recent Naxal Attacks In The Country

Following is the chronology of major recent Naxal attacks in the country.

June 29,2010: 27 CRPF jawans were killed by Naxalites in Chhattisgarh, comes as the CPI-Maoist vowed to continue attacking security forces.

May 16, 2010: Six villagers were killed by Naxalites in Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh. Among those killed was the sarpanch of the village.

April 6, 2010: In the country's worst Maoist attack ever, at least 75 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and a state police personnel were killed in an ambush, in the thick Mukrana forests of Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district.

April 4, 2010: Maoists triggered a landmine blast killing 11 security personnel of the elite anti-Naxal force Special Operations Group (SOG) in Koraput district of Orissa.

February 15, 2010: 24 personnel of the Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) killed as Maoists attack their camp in Silda in West Midnapore district of West Bengal.

October 8, 2009: 17 policemen killed when Maoists ambushed them at Laheri police station in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra.

September 30, 2009: Naxalites set ablaze Gram Panchayat offices at Korchi and Belgaon in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra.

September 26, 2009: Naxals kill BJP MP from Balaghat Baliram Kashyap's sons at Pairaguda village in Jagdalpur (Chhattisgarh).

September 4, 2009: Naxals kill four villagers in a forest in Aaded village in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district.

July 31, 2009: A special police officer and another person killed by Naxals in Bijapur district.

July 27, 2009: Six persons killed when Naxals trigger a landmine blast at Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh.

July 23, 2009: A 40-year-old tribal killed by Naxalites at Ettapalli taluka in Gadchiroli district.

Jai Hind
Rahul Vallamber

27 CRPF JAWANS killed By Naxilites, 29/06/10

In the wake of repeated attacks by Maoists on CRPF, the government is working out a plan for the redeployment of paramilitary forces engaged in anti-Naxal operations in states.

The development, two days after Naxals ambushed and killed 27 CRPF jawans in Chhattisgarh, comes as the CPI-Maoist vowed to continue attacking security forces.
"We will continue to hit hard security personnel because their atrocities against local innocent people are continuing," Gudsa Usendi, spokesperson of CPI-Maoist's frontal unit, DK Special Zonal Committee, told a news channel in Chhattisgarh from an undisclosed location.

The spokesperson refused to give details about the June 29 attack that left 27 security personnel dead in Narayanpur district, a part of 40,000 sq km restive Bastar region.

The guerrilla evaded questions such as how many Maoists were killed, how many rebels took part in the ambush, who led the attack, and how many and what kind of weapons the Maoists had looted from the slain men.


"The June 29 attack was part of Maoists' continuous retaliation against police atrocities on locals," he said.

A plan is now being worked out for reconfiguration, redeployment and strengthening of the paramilitary forces in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal phasewise in consultation with the state governments.

"It has become necessary to review the deployment of forces and a suitable decision will be taken according to the operational requirement and developmental reasons," a Home Ministry official said.

However, no central forces deployed in a particular state will be moved out from that state.

According to the plan, which will be implemented first in Chhattisgarh where CRPF has faced maximum casualties in the recent past, the distances of troop posts will be reduced and in some cases the number of personnel will be increased while in other cases the posts will be relocated.

After Chhattisgarh, the plan will be implemented in Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal.

Home Minister P Chidambaram had yesterday said that "relocation and reconfiguration" of paramilitary forces in Chhattisgarh may be required as some of them were not operationally viable.

"These deployments have been made in 2007 and 2008. So, I have asked the Chhattisgarh government to examine the deployments in 2010," he had said.

Chhattisgarh police to adopt aggressive strategy' Chhattisgarh police will adopt an aggressive strategy while dealing with the Naxalites in the wake of increasing attacks by the outlaws, State Home Minister Nanki Ram Kanwar said today.

The police will adopt an aggressive stance against Naxals and will try to eliminate them rather than risking their lives, Kanwar told reporters here.

A change in strategy has been necessitated following three major strikes in the State in which the lives of many jawans were lost, he said.

Kanwar said Chief Minister Raman Singh held a high level meeting to discuss the issue but refused to divulge further details.

Jai hind
Rahul Vallamber

Iraq bomb blast: 120 killed in series of explosions on 10th may 2010

BOMB EXPLOSIONS(10/05/2010) in the streets of Bagdad lost its news value, if the death toll is in tens. But when it touches hundred, the story is altogether different. Monday began with series of blast across Iraq killing at least 100 people and injuring hundreds. This is deadliest day of this year so far.

Three bombs hit the southern Shiite port city of Basra in the evening. One of them exploded in market place killing at least 15 people. The day began with the killing of 10 people in capital in an co-ordinate attack.

The most deadly incident took place in city of Hillah, 95 km south of Bagdad. A suicide bomber blew himself up among the crowd trying to help the victim of two car bombs that went off earlier outside a textile factory.


Official in hospital said that at least 120 people are dead and more than 170 are seriously injured.

The government blamed al-Qaida in Iraq for violence in Baghdad, saying the terror group is stepping up its attacks now to exploit political instability. More than two months after the March 7 elections, it is not clear who will control the next Iraqi government and the U.S. is planning to pull out half of its 92,000 troops over the next four months.

Tall claims by Iraqi and U.S forces about the security seem to be nothing but self-satisfactory lies. This scale of violence is clear reminder of the fact that the ultras are still very active and they can topple nay government in just few months time.

There is no immediate claim of responsibility; leaders are blaming al-Qaida for this kind of attacks, saying the group is attempting to exploit Iraq’s political instability. Compared to 2006-07 the violence has fallen dramatically in recent past, but political vacuum in the wake of inconclusive election has raised the risk of sectarian violence.

In another twin explosion in Suwayrah, 40 km south of Bagdad, 11 people died and dozens are seriously wounded.

Follwing the chain of blast, third blast occurred in Tarmiyah city, 50 km north of Bagdad. This blast injured the Mayor of the city, killed five, and injured seven. More than six people died in one such bomb explosion in city of Abu Gharib, west of Bagdad.

Whoever is the killer, whatever is the purpose, but this total tally of one less then 100 clearly shows that the Iraqi mission is total failure except Saddam.

Jai Hind

Rahul Vallamber

73 jawans killed in Chhattisgarh Naxal attack

At least 73 CRPF personnel were killed in an attack by Naxalites in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh early on Tuesday.
The attack took place when a CRPF patrol party was returning from a road opening duty in the Naxalite-infested Mukrana forest in the district between six to seven am.
"We have rushed helicopters to evacuate the casualties," Chhattisgarh Director General of Police Viswa Ranjan said.
The death toll in the attack may rise as many of the personnel have been seriously injured.
The CRPF patrol party was totally taken aback by the Maoists who surfaced at a hillock to carry out the attack.
During the attack, the Maoists opened indiscriminate fire and triggered an IED blast.
Dantewada Superintendent of Police Amresh Mishra told that the Naxals blew up a vehicle carrying the CRPF personnel.
The incident took place in the early hours near Chintalnar -Tarmetla village in the district when ultras attacked a joint team comprising personnel from CRPF, district forces and special police, he said.
The team had been camping in interiors of Tarmetla jungles for the last three days as part of a combing operation, Mishra said.
Four policemen have been injured in the blast. Additional police forces have been rushed to the spot, he said.
The attack came two days after Maoists triggered a landmine blast killing 11 security personnel and injuring several others in Orissa's Koraput district.
The landmine had exploded in Tanginiguda area when a van carrying jawans of the elite anti-Naxalite Special Operation Group (SOG) was returning from an operation in adjacent Malkangiri district.

Jai Hind

Rahul Vallamber

Pune blast part of Lashkar's 'Karachi Project'?

PUNE/NEW DELHI: Investigators suspect the blast in Pune on Saturday was set off by Indian Mujahideen as part of the `Karachi Project' - a plot by the Lashkar-e-Taiba involving fugitive Indian jihadis and serving and retired officers of the Pakistan army aimed at keeping up the offensive against India.

Sources in security agencies believe that the Southern Brigade of Indian Mujahideen which comprises absconding IM terrorists Abdus Subhan Qureshi and Mohsin Chaudhary - a Pune resident - could have been behind the explosion in the landmark German Bakery that left nine dead.
The assessment is based on similarities with other terror attacks carried out by IM which was floated by Lashkar to camouflage its hand in the continued terror campaign against India. The date of the attack is part of the pattern that the group has followed since the serial blasts it engineered in Jaipur in 2008 - that is to strike either on 13th on 26th. The last five major attacks, including 26/11, have happened on these two dates. The only significant deviation was the attack in Bangalore on July 25, 2008.

Second, they have always struck in the evening hours and have involved blasts, with the exception of 26/11 which was a frontal assault by Pakistani gunmen.

But there are other reasons as well why agencies are veering around to the IM angle. The intelligence with them suggests that IM leaders who are part of the `Karachi Project' have been under pressure for sometime to resume their activities. As part of the project, which was revealed by American Lashkar jihadi David Headley to his FBI interrogators, fugitive IM leaders Bhatkal brothers - Riaz and Iqbal - Mufti Sufiyan and Rasool Parti are being sheltered in Karachi by Lashkar. Headley, who recceed Chabad House close to German Bakery, had also told FBI interrogators about serving and retired officers of Pakistan army being part of the project.

Mohammad Amjad Khwaja, a leading IM jihadi from Hyderabad who was lodged in Pakistan by Lashkar as part of the Karachi Project and was recently arrested after reaching here, told his interrogators that he and his associates were shown videos of Pune's Osho Ashram and Mumbai's Blue Synagogue.

The IM leaders could have settled on Pune also because the outfit has always had a strong presence in the city. Some of the prominent ones - techies Mohammed Mansoor Asgar Peerbhoy who headed the `media wing' of the group, Mohammad Atiq Mohammad Iqbal and Anik Shafiq Sayyad, and Anwar Abdulganj Bagwan, an MBBS doctor from a local hospital - are in prison. But Mohsin Chaudhary, known to agencies, along with other foot soldiers from the city and other parts of Maharashtra as well as Karnataka, have so far dodged the police hunt. Union home ministry identified the fugitives on the run as Mohammad Ali, Amin, Irfan and Abu Rashid.


Jai Hind
Rahul Vallamber

Terror Threat to Vaishnodevi: CRPF

The cave shrine of Vaishnodevi, one of the most revered places of worship visited by about eight million pilgrims each year, faced a fresh terror threat and security has been beefed up.

Central Reserve Police Force's (CRPF) Special Director General N K Tripathi on Tuesday warned of the threat to the hill shrine, about 61 kms from here, saying it is on the radar of militants.

"There is a threat to the cave shrine of Vaishnodevi from militants. We have received inputs that militants want to do some mischief," he told reporters.

"Elaborate security measures are in place as per the threat perception. There is no laxity on part of the CRPF," he said, adding "the shrine is secured and safe, so pilgrims need not fear. They can undertake pilgrimage as CRPF is there for their security".

CRPF jawans have been put on high level of alert and are already keeping a hawk's vigil from the days in the run up to Republic Day on January 26 in Trikuta hills, the abode of the holy shrine, Tripathi said.

To a question, he said CRPF is main security agency providing security cover to the shrine an entire battalion is standing guard. A CRPF battalion usually comprises 1,000 personnel.

There is always a change in the strategy as per threat perception from time to time, Tripathi said.

"I had visited the shrine for security review after the threat inputs. There is frisking of pilgrims, round the clock patrolling, check points, nakas and electronic surveillance at the shrine and around it," he said.


Jai Hind
Rahul Vallamber