By TCN Special Correspondent,
Ahmedabad: Four dreaded terrorists are reported to have sneaked into Ahmedabad and are waiting for instructions for operations. A high alert has been sounded all over the state to keep watch on suspicious persons. The Gujarat Police have sounded alert two days after their Mumbai counterparts made the similar claim.
Police officials quoting reliable intelligence say that the four had entered Ahmedabad in the beginning of December and are hiding somewhere in a Hindu-dominated locality in Western part of the city. The Police are checking each and every hotel and guest houses to nab the terrorists.
Sources said that these terrorists had been sent to create disturbances in the function being planned for 2011 as well as those being arranged for Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar in the second week of January 2011.
A large number of people, including foreign dignitaries as well as NRIs from US and Europe are expected to participate in the Summit, and the kite festival which is annually held on January 14. The Summit programme is scheduled to be held on January 12 and 13.
Meanwhile, security of Chief Minister Narendra Modi and other VIPs in the state has been beefed up. Security at important public places and festival venues like a week-long Kankaria festival which began today has also been tightened.
It may be recalled that the terrorists involved in Mumbai attack had used Gujarat coast to enter the country and carried out their operations with instructions being sent to them from abroad. Gujarat has 1600 kms long coastline. Though the coastal security had been beefed up after the Mumbai attack and a number of measures had been taken to keep watch on fishermen from Pakistan to prevent infiltration, intelligence agencies and police don’t yet rule out terrorists sneaking into the state in the garb of fishermen. The Mumbai attack terrorists had entered Gujarat in fishing boats.
Three days ago, Mumbai Police had also sounded a similar alert, saying four terrorists had entered the city and are planning to carry out big terror attacks during New Year celebrations in the financial capital of India. However, it is not clear if those who entered Ahmedabad are the same set of four terrorists who had entered Mumbai or they are a separate set of four terrorists.
Interestingly, the Gujarat alert has come hours after Rajasthan Anti-Terrorist Squad today claimed a major breakthrough in the Ajmer Dargah blast case as it seized the car used for transporting the bombs from Indore to Ajmer via Godhra and four new names cropped up during the probe into the case. According to Rajasthan ATS all the new four suspects — Bhavesh, Suresh, Mehul and Sunny are absconding and said to be on the ATS scanner.