Hyderabad put on high alert

The police sounded a high alert in the Andhra Pradesh capital following a tip-off from the Intelligence Bureau that three Lashkar terrorists had infiltrated into the country for carrying out a major terror attack on any south Indian city.

The specific advisory from the IB mentioned that the trio, hailing from Pakistan, had crossed the border in Kashmir on June 1 and “had started from Srinagar in a Tata Sumo.” The weapons to be used by them would be delivered to them in Hyderabad, the city police were told. The three terrorists were identified as Sharif Ahmed Bhatti alias Abu Masab (23), Nazeer Ahmed alias Abu Jahangir (31) and Mohammed Ahmed alias Abu Jharkavi (21).

They were likely to arrive in the city by the Deccan Express. Following the alert, the city police went into an overdrive ordering checking of vehicles and frisking road users on a massive scale. Security has been beefed up at all vital installations, malls, religious places and places where people are likely to gather.

Conceding that it was a massive task for the police to identify the ‘faceless’ terrorists — all below 30 years of age and of fair complexion — the police sought people’s cooperation in alerting them about any persons moving suspiciously.

Access controls will be tightened at all the vulnerable places.

“People could inform the police on ‘dial 100’ or by sending SMS on 90101-00100 about suspicious movement of any person,” Hyderabad Police Commissioner B. Prasada Rao said.
Plea to house-owners

People were requested not to provide shelter or let out premises to strangers and were told to be suspicious of anyone speaking ‘Urdu with a heavy Punjabi accent.’

Keepers of all religious places were advised to provide shelter to travellers only after verifying their identities. Similarly, all lodge-owners were also directed to insist on identification before letting out rooms.

All the patrol vehicles in the State capital and also the checkpoints would now have an armed contingent keeping a close watch on the persons being checked. Three teams of city guards trained in counter operations in urban areas were also being kept in a state of readiness.