Half a dozen militants may be in state, Somnath festival cancelled
NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD/ AHMEDABAD: The national capital was put on high alert on Sunday following intelligence that more than half a dozen Pakistan-based militants had sneaked into Gujarat and could stage attacks anywhere ahead of Maha Shivratri festival.
PTI PHOTOAhmedabad police inspect a vehicle after high alert was sounded in the city. Around 160 commandos from the NSG have been rushed to the state, many of them to guard the Somnath temple.Authorities rushed four teams of National security Guards (NSG) commandos were rushed to Gujarat and cancelled Monday’s Maha Shivratri festival at the Somnath Temple, where millions of pilgrims were expected to gather.
In Delhi, security personnel fanned out across crowded markets such as Sarojini Nagar and Lajpat Nagar, put up barricades to check vehicles at many places and frisked visitors to popular temples across the city.
The alert was sounded out after Pakistani national security adviser Naseer Khan Janjua reportedly informed Indian counterpart Ajit Doval about the threat late on Saturday night. No militants have been traced so far.
Also, on Friday, aBS F patrolling team discovered an abandoned boat – allegedly from Pakistan – off Gujarat’s Koteshwar coast. Nothing suspicious was found on the vessel but it was the fifth such spotting in less than three months.
Janjua’s tip-off , an usual gesture on the part of Islamabad, comes at a time when New Delhi has linked any progress in peace talks with action against antiIndia militant groups said to be behind the January attack on Pathankot air base.
“Like all intelligence inputs, this input is being dealt with requisite seriousness,” said a home ministry official who didn’t want to be named. Union home minister Rajnath Singh and his top aides are monitoring the situation, he said.
Gujarat director general of police, PC Thakur, said three NSG teams were on standby in Ahmedabad while one was deployed at the Somnath temple.
“A counter terror task force of the NSG reached Ahmedabad at 2am in the morning to deal with any possible terror threat,” said an NSG official.
Pathankot on high alert after agencies intercept call to Pak
Police begin search operation, Mahashivratri fair at historical temple put on hold
SOURCE VILLAGE IS ONLY A FEW KILOMETRES FROM THE RAILWAY LINE OF DINANAGAR, WHERE TERRORISTS HAD PLANTED RDX BEFORE LAUNCHING AN ATTACK LAST YEAR
From page 1 PATHANKOT: The security agencies were on their toes again in Pathankot on Sunday morning after intelligence inputs from the technical wing in Delhi about a telephone call to Pakistan from Katruchak village near here.
HT PHOTOSecurity personnel at Katruchak village near Pathankot on Sunday.After the alert was sounded, Punjab Police SWAT (special weapons and tactics) team and other cops surrounded the village and launched a search operation in the surrounding forest area for the mystery caller. Pathankot senior superintendent of police RK Bakshi and, later, additional director general of police (law and order) Hardeep Dhillon and deputy inspector general (border range) Kunwar Vijay Partap joined the operation. “There is nothing for the people to fear. We are in, and we are capable of dealing with any situation,” the DIG told a news agency.
The Mahashivratri fair at Chat Pat Bani near Katruchak was put on hold and heavy security deployed around the historical temple where a huge number of pilgrims have gathered for the festival on Monday. The disappointed devotees of Lord Shiva, who had planned to spend two days at the temple, cursed the neighbouring country and called for decisive action against it. The temple is only 2 km from where the telephone call to Pakistan was made. On Saturday, western army commander lieutenant general KJ Singh had talked about “disturbing inputs” about a terrorist plot to strike during the Mahashivratri festival and the ongoing Parliament session.
Lal Singh, husband of Kataruchak sarpanch Urmila Devi, said the Mahashivratri festival drew devotees from far-off places and now 150-odd security personnel had cordoned off the area where they were to gather. On March 2, an alert was sounded at Pathankot villages after Border Security Force (BSF) spotted three-to-five men on the Pakistani side who were preparing to cross the fence.
At the time of filing this report, even the army and the air force had been put on high alert. Katruchak is only a few kilometres from the railway line of Dinanagar, where Pakistani terrorists had planted a heavy amount of RDX explosive before attacking the Dinanagar police station on July 27 last year. Local vendor Ram Lal said security agencies had got all vendors in Pathankot to wind up their business. After the terror attack on the Pathankot airbase in January, security agencies are taking every intelligence input seriously.
