Nationwide Alert After Intelligence Warnings of Terror Attack
NEW DELHI: Intelligence agencies have warned of a possible terror strike in the next few months and issued an alert to all states, sources say.
In a letter earlier this month, the Mumbai railway police have said that the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba is planning to attack hotels and railway stations in the city in two to three months, in what could be a 26/11-style strike. The letter warns that eight to 10 terrorists may take the sea route and enter Mumbai.
Top intelligence sources say a “generic alert” was issued to all states few days ago, but no specific targets have been mentioned.The Mumbai letter, the sources say, is part of this alert. There have been warnings of a possible Lashkar strike ever since the BJP-led government took charge last year, they added.
The heightened alert comes at a time Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi, a top commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, has been released from prison.Lakhvi was released on Saturday after a court in Pakistan called his detention illegal. He was arrested in 2009, months after 166 people were killed by 10 gunmen in a three-day siege in Mumbai.
Lakhvi and six others have been charged for planning and executing the Mumbai attacks, but the case has made virtually no progress in six years, inciting repeated protests from India.On Monday, the Islamabad High Court ordered an anti-terror court to close the trial in two months.
