JeM threatens to blow up Doon, Haridwar stations in Uttarakhand

DEHRADUN: Terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad today allegedly threatened to blow up major railway stations and places of religious and tourist interest in Uttarakhand in retaliation to the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afjal Guru, a senior police official said.

The letter written purportedly by the Karachi based area commander of terror outrfit Jaish-e-Mohammad contains a threat to blow up Dehradun, Haridwar and Kath Godam rail junctions near Nainital and prominent places of religious and tourist interest like Har Ki Pauri in the holy city, Haridwar SSP Arun Mohan Joshi told PTI.

"Though the authenticity of the threat and the origin of the letter is being examined, we are not taking any chances and have alerted the highest authorities in places mentioned in the letter", he said.

Security around the places mentioned in the letter has been beefed up.

The letter addressed to former Superintendent of Haridwar Railway station Amrinder Singh was received today, he said adding similar letters have been issued to retired railway officials in the past as well.

The difference between the latest threat letter and those received in the past is that this one has purportedly been written by Jaish-e-Mohommad whereas the earlier ones bore the name of Lashkar-e-Toiba, the SSP said.

Another difference is that this one specifically mentions that the terror strike (bombing of these places) is to avenge the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afjal Guru, Joshi said.

The handwriting on the letter is being matched with that of earlier similar letters received by railway authorities in Haridwar, he said adding the possibility of some mischievous element playing a prank cannot be ruled out.

Some time ago, a similar threat letter had been received by the same retired railway official threatening to bomb Haridwar railway station but it turned out to be a hoax, he said.

The letter had been traced to one Naresh who was arrested from Roorkee.