Security advisory likely ahead of Babri demolition, 26/11 anniversaries

NEW DELHI: The centre will issue a fresh security advisory to the states and Union territories calling for heightened vigil in view of the approaching anniversaries of the Mumbai terror attacks on November 26 and Babri demolition on December 6.

Though no specific intercepts have been received indicating terrorists’ plans to launch fresh terror strike, the Centre is taking no chances and will, in an advisory to be sent on November 18 or 19, ask the states/UTs to beef up security at all vital installations, especially those located near the coast and crowded places.

Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore have been identified as the most vulnerable cities. The home ministry will ask the states/UTs to deploy additional forces in markets, religious and other public places for tighter surveillance. The agencies feel a terror attack timed around the anniversary of either 26/11 or Babri demolition could generate wide publicity, apart from sending out a clear message that the terror machinery is alive and kicking.

Terrorists had struck on November 26, 2008, at multiple targets in south Mumbai, including the landmark Taj hotel and CST railway station. As many as 166 people were killed in the three-day-long mayhem that followed, as terrorists laid siege at Taj and Oberoi-Trident hotels as well as Nariman House.

The Babri demolition anniversary on December 6 is also seen as a sensitive day. Even though the authorities have been issuing advisories ahead of the anniversary, the apprehensions of a communal situation are slightly more this time as this the first anniversary after the Allahabad High Court pronounced its verdict in the Ayodhya tangle.

Appeals are lying in the Supreme Court against the high court verdict. As of now, status quo is being observed at the Ayodhya site.