BARC on hit-list of Pak-based terror groups

Sumir Kaul

Mumbai, Feb 6 (PTI) The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre(BARC) continues to be a source of worry for security agenciesas intelligence inputs suggest that the premier nuclearfacility and its staff housing area are on the hit-list ofPakistan-based terror groups.

Extra-vigilant security officials are having a toughtime in manning the "Anu Shakti Nagar", the residentialcomplex housing nearly 10,000 people adjacent to the facility,battling BARC authorities for regulating campus'' entry andexit, officials privy to the arrangements said.

Recently, two labourers from Kashmir were detained bysecurity personnel manning the complex and released only aftertheir background check was done.

"BARC has been constant sources of worry for us.

Lashker-e-Taiba''s American terrorist David Headley had carriedout a survey of the location which has made usextra-vigilant," said one of the security officials.

Intelligence inputs from various agencies indicatethat BARC continues to be one of the favourite targets ofLashker whereas other terror groups including theJaish-e-Mohammed could also make attempts to attack it.

Security agencies have asked for proper manning ofentry and exit points and if possible restrictions on entry ofother locals residing in adjacent areas, who frequent the AnuShakti Nagar for shopping, the sources said.

While additional personnel were being sent to theBARC, the Navy and the Coast Gaurd have also been roped in formaintaining a tight vigil along the coast lines.

The security around the nuclear installation has beentightened and efforts were on to ensure proper cover to themangroves located close to the BARC complex, the sources said.

The rear side of the BARC, located on a hilltop, can be seen from the Arabian Sea.

The confessional statements made by Headley andanother Lashker-e-Taiba terrorist Sarfaraz Nawaz, who wasdeported from Muscat last year, have also shown that BARC isone of the prime targets for the terror groups.

Nawaz had stated in his statement before the policethat Lashker was planning to target top ten scientists in thecountry, some of them from BARC. .