Possible targets: The port and US consulate in Kolkata, Barc and BSE in Mumbai, RSS headquarters in Nagpur.
The Centre has alerted the Maharashtra and West Bengal governments on the possibility of Pakistan-trained terrorists targeting vital installations in metros to create mayhem in the country. The warning comes in the wake of reports that highly-motivated suicide bombers may have sneaked into Mumbai and Kolkata recently.
A senior official in the ministry of home affairs (MHA) confirmed that terrorists trained by the Taliban had arrived in the country. Their targets include the RSS headquarters in Nagpur, the port and the American consulate in Kolkata, Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (Barc) and the Bombay Stock Exchange in Mumbai and some civilian installations in Gujarat.
The official said a team of “facilitators” visited Mumbai on a reconnaissance mission before the terrorists sneaked in. The “facilitators” reportedly gathered information about the targets and places where the terrorists could operate from in the city.
Barc has been on the hit list of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for some time now. The Central Industrial Security Force and another agency conducted a full security audit of the installation two months ago and put in place a mechanism to prevent potential attacks from land, sea or air, the MHA official said.
Meanwhile, it is increasingly becoming clear that Indian security agencies may not get a chance to interrogate David Coleman Headley, the LeT operative arrested in the US.
Efforts made by the agencies in this regard have so far yielded no tangible results. The agencies are concerned that Headley is turning into a “useful informer” for the FBI. They fear this might lead to the US authorities refusing access to him.
Intelligence sources said there was nothing surprising in Headley cosying up to the FBI, as he had been twice caught for drug trafficking in the past but let off. “However, Headley turning an informer is certainly a setback to us,” the sources said.
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