Mumbai, August 15: Ahead of 64th Independence Day on Sunday the security has been tightened and high alert has been announced in various parts of the country.Special vigil is being kept at the crowded areas.
In Delhi metro parking has been made out of bounds for the public from 1400 hours on 14th August to 1400 hours of August 15th.There is an overall preparedness on the part of Delhi police to combat any situation arising out of terror threat.Patrolling has been stepped up and checking on boarders have been intensified.
In Mumbai also there is massive prepartion by the Police to tackle any situation.The DGP is to address a press conference in the afternoon to assure people that every one is safe. Indian intelligence input along with American alert are keeping police on its toes.
Security was put on high alert in Jammu and Kashmir with mounted vigil on the frontiers with Pakistan on the eve of Independence Day.
A senior police official told that security has been beefed up at all the “sensitive and vulnerable points across the Jammu region”. The senior police, paramilitary and army officials were carrying out security reviews.
“Additional deployments have been made around sensitive areas and vigil is mounted at airports and railway stations,” the police official said, adding that “we are carrying out intense frisking at airports”.
According to sources “Only Air India flight is operating from Jammu to Srinagar today (Saturday) while other private carriers have cancelled the flights due to security reasons.”
There is a high alert at every nook and corners in Orissa with intensified police patrolling. The vehicles are being checked at all the entry pints of vulnerable areas.
A senior police official told media persons that state and central forces have been deployed in vulnerable areas of Malkangiri, Gajapati, Rayagada, Kandhamal and Ganjam districts after Maoists asked people to observe the Independence Day as a black day.
He said that additional police forces have been deployed in the affected areas so that the celebrations take place in the regions without any trouble.
Ahead of the Independence Day celebrations, the rebels blew up a panchayat office building in Malkangiri district on Friday. Maoists blasted the building at Malavaram village using landmines when nobody was inside.
Guwahati
More than 100,000 army, police and paramilitary troopers have been deployed in resistive north-eastern states of India to foil any plans by separatists to stage violent attacks ahead of Independence Day.
The states declared as vulnerable to rebel attacks are Assam, Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
An army commander said “We have been able to put our forces in various vulnerable areas to ensure that rebels cannot stage violent attacks”.
The army soldiers have averted a major disaster by defusing a time device planted in a bus terminus in the eastern Assam town of Sivasagar on Friday.
Five guerrilla groups called a 17-hour general strike on Sunday in the northeast to boycott Independence Day celebrations.
The militant groups include the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), the Kamatapur Liberation Organization (KLO), the Manipur People’s Liberation Front (MPLF) and the Tripura People’s Democratic Front (TPDF).
These groups are active in Assam, Manipur and Tripura. Militant groups in the northeast have for years boycotted national events to protest New Delhi’s rule over the region.
Assam Inspector General of Police P. Bhattacharya said that we are taking no chances and deployed security forces at all vital installations like road bridges, oil facilities and railway tracks. Special security measures were taken in Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh as well.
Manipur police Chief Joy Kumar Singh said desperate attempts are being made by militants to sabotage Independence Day celebrations, but we are equally alert.
There are more than 30-odd rebel groups active in the northeast with demands ranging from independence to autonomy.
Delhi
For Independence Day the high alert has been announced at various key points in the national capital. Specialized units like Quick Reaction Teams, SWAT and Vajra are being deployed at places like airport, railway stations, inter-state bus terminals and various metro stations.
A police officer said “The Delhi Police special cell has received reports that terrorists may try to disrupt the CWG. We are carrying out security drills for Independence Day which will help during CWG. We have launched a manhunt for ISI agents whose names cropped up during interrogations of arrested militants in the past.
At least 60 CCTVs have been installed in and around Red Fort where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will host the national flag and address the nation. Sharpshooters of National Security Guard (NSG) will be placed on the rooftops of high-rises near the 17th century Mughal monument.
—Agencies