Police on high alert in Mah : Pasricha

Aurangabad, Maharashtra, June 14 (UNI) State Director General of Police (DGP) P S Pasricha today said the police in the state has been on an alert to take on the possible terrorist threat to vital installations.

After a meeting of senior police officials from four ranges of the State here today, Dr Pasricha told reporters here, interrogation of suspected terrorists had revealed that vital installations in Maharashtra and elsewhere are facing threat from terrorists.

He said, ''Police have got some hints that the suspected terrorists who were killed in an encounter with the anti-terrorist squad (ATS) had links with Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).'' However, Dr Pasricha said that investigations into the case are on and nothing more can be shared on the issue at the moment.

He congratulated the ATS as well as well as Aurangabad and Nagpur police for busting the terrorist modules recently, and attributed their success to perfect alerts from various intelligence agencies.] Replying to a question, Dr Pasricha agreed police had noted that the terrrorists were trying to create a base in smaller towns, and said that the government has already decided to set up ATS at Aurangabad and Nagpur and assured that they would be operational within one year's time.

To a question, the DGP said, the ATS has been investigating into the statement made by one of the suspected terrorist that they stayed at the MLA hostel in Mumbai.

Dr Pasricha said that there are two type of terrorists groups -- active and sleeping -- and said that the 14 terrorists who were arrested by the ATS of Mumbai in connection with the arms and explosives seizure from Aurangabad, Malegaon and Nashik could be from the sleeping group, who were involved in tranporting the arms and amunition to safer places.

While those killed in an encounter, after the ATS and Nagpur police foiled their attempt to attack the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) headquarter at Nagpur, belonged to the active terrorist group, he said.

Dr Pasricha stated that initial investigations in the case suggested that these terrorist groups were encouraged by foreign powers.

Additional Commissioner of Mumbai ATS K P Raghuwanshi, Additional Director General of Police Sanjiv Dayal were present at the press conference.

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