4 Lashkar men in Mumbai plotting terror acts: Police

The Mumbai police have sounded a high alert acting on the information that four members of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) have sneaked into the city. ]

On Thursday, they released the photo of one of the terrorists and appealed to the citizens to remain alert during the upcoming Christmas season and New Year.

“The police have received specific input regarding the terrorists,” joint commissioner of police (crime) Himanshu Roy said in a hurriedly-called press conference on Thursday evening. The police had no information on their exact plan, but they are likely to target heavily crowded places, he added. He released the photo of Walid Jinnah, one of the infiltrators.

The three others have been identified as Abdul Karim Mussa, Noor Abdul Ilahi and Mafooz Alam.

“The four LeT members plan to carry out terror-related activities. According to our information, all of them are in the age group of 20-30 years,” Roy said, adding, “We have formed a special team to trace them and the police are taking major security precautions.”

The police have also started a hotline number — 22633333 — dedicated specifically for information related to the terrorists. “We appeal to the citizens to alert the police if they have information,” Roy said.

He said the terrorists had entered the city for “extremely dangerous activities”. He, however, refused to divulge the source of the information.

Earlier this week, the Union ministry of home affairs had issued an alert regarding possible terror activities in Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Following this, the Mumbai police threw a thick security blanket around the city, especially South Mumbai.

On Wednesday, the police announced that they had taken stringent security steps to fortify South Mumbai locations, more importantly areas around the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal hotel.