The security forces are the most stressed out in the days leading up to the D-day. On constant alert, any slip up may prove costly.

Nothing is left to chance. Barricades are set up, registered bad characters are rounded up, checking is intensified and intelligence inputs are sifted with a fine toothcomb.

Black Cat commandos with bomb detectors and sniffer dogs patrol the Red Fort grounds before the start of the full-dress rehearsal August 13, 2003.

Security forces have been deployed in force across the country against possible militant attacks.

Photograph: Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images

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