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DEHRADUN: Senior police officials in Dehradun are worried that the annual 13-day kanwar yatra, which culminates at Haridwar and is expected to witness the highest ever turnout of Shiva devotees this year, may become the target of “lone wolf” terror elements “like the ones on London” recently.

Talking to TOI on Tuesday, DGP M A Ganapathy, said, “On the lines of the London attacks where pedestrians were mowed down, self-radicalised elements could strike during the yatra.”

On Monday, police in London had arrested a 47-year-old man from Cardiff on suspicion of terrorism after the van he was driving ploughed into a crowd of pedestrians near a Muslim community centre in north London. One person was reported dead while 10 others were injured. In the beginning of the month, eight people were killed and almost 50 injured when a van mounted the pavement of London Bridge and was driven into pedestrians in the Southwark district of London. The three attackers were shot dead by police.

While there are no specific intelligence inputs regarding any terror threat to the kanwar yatra that begins on July 9, the authorities are not planning to take any chances. Counter-terrorism activities are being strengthened and Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and Quick Response Teams (QRTs) would be deployed along the yatra route, the DGP said.

In the past few months, neighbouring Uttar Pradesh ATS has made several arrests of suspected self-radicalised youths. On April 21, Uttar Pradesh ATS arrested three suspected terrorists with ISIS links while another suspected terrorist was killed by UP ATS in an encounter in Lucknow on March 8.

In a meeting with top police officials from Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh on Monday, Uttarakhand Police asked them to share database of criminals and gangs operating in their respective states to avoid any untoward incident.

Around four crore kanwariyas are expected to flock to Haridwar for the mela, which is held every year in sawan (rainy season), the fifth month in the Hindu calendar. Last year, 3.24 crore devotees had participated in the kanwar yatra.

Another top police officer on condition of anonymity told TOI, “Cops also have to deal with unrest in nearby areas like Saharanpur , which recently saw Thakurs and Dalits locked in a violent conflict.”