The police have launched a massive combing operation to nab four Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants based in Pakistan, who are suspected to have entered Mumbai to carry out attacks.
The four have been identified as Abdul Karim Musa, Noor Abul Elahi, Walid Jinnah and Mehfooz Alam. The police have released a sketch of Jinnah. According to the police, the militants are planning to attack crowded places, religious sites and strategic installations in the city.
The police have set up checkpoints on some roads, cordoned off key locations in south Mumbai and deployed additional forces. Roads leading to the Taj Mahal Hotel and Gateway of India have been secured.
Maharashtra Minister of State for Home Satej Patil, who is monitoring the situation and is in constant touch with Director-General of Police D Shivanandan, told Business Standard: “The police are keeping a close vigil and have taken all measures following intelligence reports that four terrorists have entered Mumbai.”
Additional Chief Secretary Umesh Chandra Sarangi said the police had received credible information that the LeT members were planning to strike around Christmas and the New Year. He said Mumbai had been placed on high alert.
“It is going to be a violent attack, which will cause disruptions,” Himanshu Roy, joint commissioner of Mumbai Police, said. However, he expressed his inability to reveal the nationalities of the four suspected militants, but confirmed they are LeT members.
On December 7, a bomb in Varanasi had killed a child and injured several people. In February, a powerful blast had ripped through a restaurant in Pune, killing 17 people — the first major attack since the 26/11 Mumbai carnage in 2008.
According to the police, two suspected militants had also entered the city during the 11-day Ganapati festival in September. However, the festival passed off peacefully.
