A high alert has been issued in all the districts of Kerala following the Indian Army’s warning of a possible terror attack, Kerala Director General of Police (DGP) Loknath Behera informed on Monday evening.
Police across the state have been directed to maintain vigil at public places. The alert comes at a time when Onam, the popular festival of Kerala, is being celebrated across the state.
This comes as Lt. General SK Saini, General Officer Commander-in-Chief, Southern Command, earlier in the day, said that the Army has received inputs about a possible terrorist attack in the southern part of the country.
The Army said that some abandoned boats were recovered from the Sir Creek area bordering India and Pakistan.
“We are taking precautions to ensure that designs of inimical elements and terrorists are stalled,” Saini said.
Earlier in August, a huge security alert was sounded in Gujarat after receiving intelligence inputs of “Pakistani commandos likely to infiltrate into the Indian territory through Kutchh area, through sea route to carry out terrorist attacks in Gujarat”.
The BSF and the Indian Coast Guard along with other security agencies were put on high alert after inputs suggested that Pakistani commandos trained in underwater attacks or terrorists may try to enter the Gulf of Kutch and the Sir Creek area using small boats.
All the major ports in the state were directed to maintain tight security.
Security had been tightened across Tamil Nadu in August following intelligence inputs that members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba had infiltrated into the state.
It was suspected that six members of the terror outfit infiltrated into the state by sea from Sri Lanka and moved to different cities, including Coimbatore.
Earlier in the day, reports stated that Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar has been reportedly released secretly from Pakistan jail to “carry out terror attacks”.
Earlier on Saturday, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval had said that more than 200 terrorists were trying to cross into India from Pakistan and Islamabad was trying to stoke violence in the region.
Meanwhile, the Indian Army and intelligence sources, quoting the confessions of two Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists captured recently in Jammu and Kashmir, have said that around 300 trained militants are prepared to enter Indian territory from Pakistan.
Tensions have heightened between India and Pakistan after the Centre’s move to revoke special status to Jammu and Kashmir with Islamabad stating it a “strategic blunder” that will cost New Delhi “heavily”.