NEW DELHI: A Red alert was sounded late on Wednesday following a category-A intelligence input about the presence of 3-4 hardcore and “highly-motivated” terrorists in the capital. This kind of input means that information received by the intelligence agency could be treated as extremely credible and all anti-terror measures should be pressed into service.
Sources told TOI that the group of fidayeen belong to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), who may have infiltrated into the city last week to execute an attack in retaliation to the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir. At least two of them could be foreign (Pakistan-based) terrorists.
Around 9pm, Delhi Police’s Special Cell and sleuths from an intelligence agency carried out raids at nine locations in the city. At least two suspects were detained for questioning. Raids were conducted at Seelampur and two other places in northeast Delhi, Jamia Nagar and two localities near Paharganj in central Delhi.
Last week, TOI had reported how the security alert level at the four defence establishments had been upgraded to “orange” in anticipation of an imminent terror strike. Inputs also suggested that JeM was readying a special squad to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi and NSA Ajit Doval. The same input also suggested that the terror attack could occur between September 25 and 30. An intelligence officer said this could be the same squad.
JeM has been on an overdrive since August 5 trying to send fidayeen from across the border to carry out strikes in India. The operations are being coordinated by Maulana Masood Azhar and his kin, a top intelligence officer said.
Jaish cadres have been seething in revenge after sustaining a major blow to their operations in the past one year.
