Security stepped up in Valsad after intelligence inputs

Security has been beefed up in the south Gujarat district after inputs from Intelligence Bureau (IB) that around 13 alleged terrorists are suspected to have entered the district via sea-route, a senior police official said here on Saturday.

"We have received an input stating that some 13 alleged terrorists are suspected to have entered the district through the coast. We have stepped up surveillance," Valsad Superintendent of Police Nipuna Torwane said.

An emergency meeting of the district police officials was called today to discuss the intelligence input, following which a decision was taken to intensify the combing and patrolling operations here, she said.

"We have intensified patrolling and combing operations at all public places like railway stations, bus stands, coastal areas. We are also checking hotels," Torwane added.

People, particularly fishermen, have been asked to remain vigilant and report to the police if they come across any suspicious activities or persons.

The IB inputs in the southern district of the state comes after central security agencies had said yesterday that Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group might carry out an attack in Delhi.

Lying close to 350 km south of Ahmedabad, Valsad borders Maharashtra and shares a major chunk of Gujarat's 1,600-km long coastline that runs across Saurashtra and the Gulf of Kutch.

In 1993, a huge cache of RDX had landed on the coast of Valsad, which was subsequently used to trigger serial blasts in Mumbai that year.