The navy has alerted all agencies

Ajay Banerjee and Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

New Delhi/Mumbai, September 22All Indian naval bases and the Indian Air Force stations in the Mumbai area have been put on alert following reports of suspicious movement near the island of Karanja.Children returning from school around noon on Thursday reported seeing men wearing black pathan suits carrying weapons. The kids heard the men talk about the ONGC. The men were sighted close to INS Abhimanyu that houses missiles and ammunition and is also close to the ONGC facility at Uran, 50 km from Mumbai.

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It is being termed as the ‘highest state of alertness’.The INS Abhimanyu, near Uran in Mumbai, has been put on alert. Uran is a small island located opposite the naval harbour in south Mumbai near the Gateway of India. It is also close to the naval jetty where several frontline warships are docked. The island earlier housed the coastal battery and now holds missiles and ammunition.According to Director General of Police Satish Mathur, the two students separately spotted the armed men. While one claimed to have seen one armed man, another reported to have seen five.Both students were on way to school at 6.30 am when they claimed to have seen the armed men.The police have officially not released the names of the students though it is learnt that it was a boy and a girl.Shortly after the school authorities informed the police, the Indian Navy rushed in commandos from its MARCOS division while the anti-terror squad of the state police began a search operation in the area.The Uran coast is also closer to Raigad district where a consignment of RDX from Pakistan used to carry out the serial bomb blasts in March 1993 was landed by Tiger Memon and his associates.Though nothing has been found till late afternoon, the authorities have also roped in the Coast Guard to search suspicious vessels.Fisherfolk are also being called in to provide information on any suspicious movement on the coast, police sources said.Later in the day, checkpoints were thrown up on all the approach routes to Mumbai and Pune to scan vehicles, police said.