Despite apprehensions of violence, Independence Day passed off relatively peacefully except for an incident of firing in Srinagar later in the evening.
NEW DELHI: Despite apprehensions of violence, Independence Day passed off relatively peacefully except for an incident of firing in Srinagar later in the evening.
But seasoned hands within the intelligence agencies are warning of possible attacks in the coming days, given the uneasy calm past few weeks and the inability of investigators to find those behind the string of bomb blasts across the country in recent times.
Over the past several days, there has been a flurry of intelligence warnings about possible attacks across India in connection with Independence Day: terrorist attacks in Indian cities, religious places and other significant public locations; of violence in J&K; naxal strikes in central India; and insurgent efforts to create trouble in northeast India.
However, with a massive security blanket thrown across India, the non-state actors seemed to have cautiously withdrawn, at least for the moment. In Delhi, the prime minister’s address from Red Fort was under a no-fly zone and within a bulletproof shield.
Military helicopters kept watch over the Delhi skies all throughout the period of the PM’s address, even as snipers had taken up vantage positions all around Red Fort.
Across Jammu and Kashmir most of the day passed off peacefully, but by evening there was report of firing from Srinagar. The cultural pageant after the march past was cancelled at the Independence Day function in Srinagar. Civilians were almost completely kept away from the parade, except for students from the local police public school. In the northeast, Independence Day celebrations passed off peacefully. In
Manipur, various militant groups had called for boycott, but there were no reports of violence. Most noticeable was the peace across the naxal belt, where many intelligence inputs had warned of serious trouble.
Sources however said Friday’s peace was no guarantee that it is going to last long. They are warning of another round of bombings, if the security agencies are unable to nab the culprits behind the blasts in places such as Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Jaipur and Hyderabad.
j_josy@dnaindia.net
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}