Fearing terrorist attacks, red alert sounded in Delhi for IDay
George Iype in New Delhi
Fearing terrorist strikes by militant groups sponsored by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, central intelligence agencies have asked the Delhi police to enforce tight security in the capital for the 50th Independence Day celebrations.
Delhi police officers said tight security cover will be provided to vital national symbols like India Gate, the Red Fort, Parliament House, North and South Block, and Rashtrapati Bhavan.
According to intelligence reports, the Delhi police has been warned of attacks from terrorists organisations like the United Liberation Front of Asom, the Bodo Liberation Tigers Front, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland and some Punjab-based splinter groups.
Police sources said intelligence agencies have specifically identified Lakhbir Singh Rode, an ISI-trained Punjab terrorist, who may strike during the golden jubilee celebrations in Delhi.
Intelligence reports say Rode, a self-styled leader of the International Sikh Youth Federation and one of the most wanted men in the country, has aligned with the Babbar Khalsa International to carry out his deadly plan.
Rode is a nephew of the late Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the guiding spirit of Punjab terrorism in the early eighties. Delhi police sources said Rode is widely respected in Pakistan and has a sizeable influence in gurdwaras in the United Kingdom and Canada. He has also succeeded in setting up bases in Norway and Sweden.
The ISI, intelligence sources claim, has assigned Rode, who now lives in Lahore, to teach crash courses in manufacturing explosives to its recruits.
The Union home ministry and the Delhi police are not taking any chances.
On Wednesday, Home Secretary K Padmanabhaiah held a two-hour-long meeting with the intelligence chiefs and top Delhi police officers. The home secretary specifically asked the police to monitor North-Eastern terrorist groups which have been on a killing spree in recent weeks.
A senior Delhi police officer told Rediff On The NeT that there is a real threat from North-Eastern groups like ULFA, BLTF and NSCN. "The recent upsurge of violence and terrorist strikes in the North-East is a matter of serious concern," he said, adding that the Delhi police has imposed a tight security cover over the capital.
The Delhi police, he said, has asked the Union government to deploy an additional 10,000 Central Reserve Police Force personnel to man vital locations across the city.
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