New Delhi, December 14: The government on Monday sounded a terror alert in Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Gujarat, after inputs suggested that Taliban-trained suicide attackers have entered the country to target vital installations in these cities.
PM Manmohan Singh has called a security meet in view of the situation. Home Minister P Chidambaram, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Defence Minister AK Antony and the chiefs of Intelligence Bureau and RAW were present at the meeting.
Home Ministry officials said the three metropolis have been put on high alert, with security tightened especially in airports and other vital installations, including the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Shiv Sena headquarters (all in Mumbai) and the US Consulate in Kolkata.
Sources said police in all three cities are looking for pashtoons and Afghans as suspects who could target the three cities.
They said the police forces have been put on high alert following the inputs and efforts are on to nab the terrorists at the earliest. The terror alert comes weeks after India marked the first anniversary of the deadly Mumbai terror attacks, during which 10 terrorists who entered Mumbai via sea from Pakistan, killed at least 166 people in a wave of strikes at five-star hotels, a café, railway station, hospital etc.
The alert follows a similar warning which put nuclear installations across the country on high alert, amid fears that terrorists could target them.
–Agencies