General alert in Mumbai ahead of R-Day

MUMBAI: With terror threat lingering over the city, a general alert has been sounded and security has been beefed up across the metropolis for Republic Day celebrations with thousands of armed security personnel being deployed to prevent any untoward incident, police said.

"For the Republic Day, a general alert has been sounded. For such celebrations, anti-national or anti-social elements may create trouble in the city. We have taken elaborate security measures to ensure the R-Day passes off peacefully," Deputy Police Commissioner (Operations) Rajkumar Vhatkar said today.

Force One teams and National Security Guards are on alert, the DCP said adding, "Over 50 per cent of the total 46,000 city's police force, many of them carrying sophisticated weapons, will be guarding the city tomorrow."

Quick Response Teams, State Reserve Police Force, Home Guards will also be part of the security system that would keep a watch in the city, he said.

Asked about the six terror suspects who had allegedly sneaked into the city last year to carry out terror strikes, Vhatkar said, "There are no traces of the six terror suspects. But we are leaving no stone unturned and we are alert."