Babar Khalsa militants threaten to blow up railway stations

Ambala, May 27 (UNI) Babar Khalsa militants have allegedly threatened to blow up railway stations and important religious places in Haryana by June 10.

The threat, issued via an inland letter, written in Hindi and Punjabi and posted on behalf of the Punjab Area Commander of the Babbar Khalsa outfit, was received by the Station Master Barara on the Ambala-Saharanpur line yesterday.

It further threatened besides the Barara station, railway stations of the Ambala Cantonment, Saharanpur, Chandigarh, Rohtak and Faridabad would also be blown up.

Religious places, including important temples all over Haryana, would also be blasted, the letter said.

Similar threats had already been received, addressed to the Railway authorities.

Haryana GRP Superintendent Bharti Arora announced a prize of Rs 50,000 for any information about the people behind the letter. The contents of the letter were being examined and it was presumed that it was a handiwork of some ''mischievous person''.

She said such letters were being posted to create panic among the people. She appealed to the public to inform the Government Railway Police (GRP) about the whereabouts of such elements and names of people giving the information would be kept secret.

However, security has been tightened and intensive search was being carried out at these stations. Trains entering the stations, mentioned in the letter, were being searched extensively. None was allowed to enter the station without passing through the metal detectors. The CCTV cameras had been installed to identify the suspected people.

A close watch was kept on the vehicles, especially four-wheelers, entering the station premises and were allowed to park only in the specified areas.

Meanwhile, police have also intensified the patrolling in view of the recent Jaipur bomb blasts.

General public places like bus stands, hospitals and other places were being guarded to stall any incident.

UNI XC SBC HS DS1235