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Nation on high alert ahead of
Independence Day, Janmashtami

     New Delhi: Alarmed by recent serial blasts in Mumbai, a terrorist plot in Britain and a US warning of a likely al Qaeda attack, unprecedented security measures have been arranged across the country ahead of the Independence Day and Janmashtami. To prevent any untoward incident, security arrangements in every nook and corner of the city from Parliament, airport, railway and metro stations to crowded market areas, cinemas and religious buildings, have been the tightest in the capital since the attack on Parliament on December 13, 2001. Around 10,000 police officers would be deployed for the Independence Day celebrations on August 15, when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will customarily unfurl the national flag from the ramparts of the historic Red Fort. Police have put in elaborate arrangements in and around places like Red Fort and the nearby markets, and has increased the security level to its highest at the India Gate. Snipers, metal detectors, x-ray machines, sniffer dogs, radio frequency jammers and security cameras have also been pressed into service and troops armed with machine guns are patrolling the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

    The terror threat is considered to be the highest in the capital as the main celebrations on August 15 are centred in the city. Nevertheless, all this restlessness is in no way affecting the tourists who continue to throng markets with their Indian expedition. "Well, it has to be safe but you can't let people worry because if you are scared it's disrupting your normal life. We are trying to get back to business, to do what we do normally. It has been a lot of worrying, but so far we have been alright. We are just watching each other at the moment" said Matthew 'O' Brian, a tourist from England at one o f the markets near Red Fort, New Delhi. In rest of the country also thousands of policemen and troops have been positioned to prevent any terror attack.

Terror attack foiled in Kanpur: 3 held  (Go To Top)

     Kanpur: A major terror attack was foiled here yesterday when the Kanpur Police arrested three persons with improvised explosives and ammunitions, just ahead of the Independence Day. The arrested said that a person had provided them the explosives to carry out multiple blasts in the city on Independence Day. "We seized country made bombs from their possession in large number. The explosive cache had nine big bombs and 23 small ones. We also recovered country-made revolvers and ammunitions of various calibrations from them," said Awadhesh Yadav, Superintendent of Police, Kanpur. Yadav further said that the police also seized a stolen motorcycle from the arrested person.

MI5 suspect headed Kashmiri terror cell (Go To Top)

      London: The British intelligence agency believes that one of the terror suspects is Britain's Al-Qaeda leader and was also associated to terror cells active in Kashmir. Though the name of the terror suspect has not been revealed owing to legal conditions, the elite British investigative agency have found the suspect to be the a senior figure in the terrorist network groups working in Iraq and North Africa. Meanwhile, the youngest terror suspect, the 17-year-old Abdul Patel has been found to be an immigrant from India who has also arrested in the anti-terror raids carried by UK's security agency a week ago in connection to the terror plot of bombing ten trans- Atlantic airplanes mid-air.

    Britain home Secretary John Reid, in another development said that after the July 7 London bombings, the British security agencies have foiled four terror-plots. But said that more could still be active as '100 percent guarantee' could not be assured of preventing any impending terror attack. Though he did not confirm the presence of close to 24 terror cells operating in UK, he also did not reject it and said: " I'm not going to confirm an exact number but I wouldn't deny that that would indicate the number of major conspiracies that we are trying to look at". Speaking to BBC's News 24 Sunday, Reid said, "highly likely there would be another terrorist attempt and that is one thing of which we can be sure." Though the threat level has been reduced to 'severe' from 'critical', the security arrangements in Britain continues to be strict and common people also have expressed no discomfiture against the strict screening procedures.

Pak phone call led to Heathrow arrests (Go To Top)

      Islamabad: Pakistani officials have said that an intercept of a telephone call made by British National Rashid Rauf from Karachi to his associates in Britain urging them to go ahead with attacks on US-bound jets at Heathrow played a crucial role in foiling the terror plot. A senior security official said the call by Rauf from Karachi to his associates in the UK prompted officials to arrest him and inform UK authorities of the daredevil plan. "This telephone call intercept in Karachi and the arrest of Rashid Rauf helped a lot to foil the terror plan," The Dawn quoted a senior security official as saying.

    Rauf, a 26-year-old Briton of Pakistani origin was arrested from Zhob in Balochistan and apparently had connections with terrorist groups in Pakistan, including the al Qaeda. A Pakistani security official said Rashid used to frequently send text messages to Britain. Officials said Rauf, who used the alias Matiur Rehman, had "an indication of Afghanistan-based al-Qaeda connections", and authorities were now closely examining his links to Afghan jihadi groups. According to the Sun, the Birmingham born Rauf dubbed Mr Talibrum by the English press was also a commander in the terrorist group who organised the training of seven British suicide bombers who had planned to blow up mid air, using chemical bombs, the transatlantic jets to the US. His brother Tayib, 22, was on the list of 19 suspects alleged to have been involved in the plot, who here held by British authorities in Birmingham following raids across England after the foiled bomb attack. The official further said that Rauf's interrogation revealed information that was not even in the knowledge of the US and British intelligence. "His interrogation revealed information we believe was not even in the knowledge of the US and the British - that they were actually planning to blow up airliners. After we finished interrogating we coordinated this information with the British authorities and they carried out the arrests in Britain," the official added. Apparently British intelligence had asked Islamabad to trail Rashid Rauf for two weeks after he travelled to Pakistan.

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