Cops on alert after intel on 3 terrorists

The Afghan Nationals May Have Entered City To Launch Strike

Mateen Hafeez I TNN

Mumbai: Four days after security agencies sounded an alert across the country about a Pashtun militant group, senior police officials on Wednesday instructed all 90 police stations in the city to look for three Afghan nationals who may be in Mumbai to launch a terror strike. One of the three, officials said, had a fake Indian passport.

A senior police official alerted the heads of all city police stations to the new threat from the three militants. “The three persons, in their mid-20s, are cleanshaven. The may head towards South Mumbai, which has the maximum number of vital installations,’’ the inspectors were told.

This is the second major alert since July, when intelligence agencies had released photographs of eight locations in Maharashtra—including some railway stations and a private bank—which were believed to be on the radar of terrorists.

According to recent reports, the fake passport is said to be in the name of Aasif or Waasif. “It’s not possible to scan all passports with these names, as there’s no confirmed information about the passport holder,’’ said a police official. Security agencies have not indicated the sites that they expect these terrorists to target, saying only that they had planned to strike in south Mumbai.

The youths, the intelligence input said, may be disguised as Hindu priests, complete with tilaks on their foreheads. Security agencies were not specific, however, about the weapons the trio may be carrying.

“We’re coordinating with other agencies and have alerted our policemen to maintain the strictest possible watch in Mumbai,’’ an officer said.

The city police have received as many as 575 terror alerts from various agencies this year, all warning of a possible terror attack in Mumbai. Most alerts mentioned the western coast as the most vulnerable point and an easy route for terrorists.

The Times of India, December 18, 2009