Army warns of possible terror strikes on Mahashivratri

AHMEDABAD/PATHANKOT: Gujarat was put on a state of high alert on Saturday following an intelligence input from Pakistan's National Security Adviser (NSA) Nasir Khan Janjua to his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval that 10 terrorists had entered the state to carry out strikes.Intelligence agencies believe this infiltration is aimed at creating disturbances on or around Shivaratri which falls on Monday. Pakistan's NSA has informed that these are fidayeen from the Lashkar-E-Taiba and Jaish-eMuhammed cadres.Following Doval's communication to Gujarat, security has been stepped up at sensitive installations, places of worship and public places. This is the first time that Pakistan has shared such specific intelligence.All security agencies in Gujarat have been placed on a state of high alert and despatched to specific locations which are vulnerable. The state director general of police P C Thakur convened an emergency meeting on the issue and alerts were sounded off in all major cities and districts.The DGP issued a notification cancelling leaves of all police officers and personnel till further directives. In an order signed late on Saturday night, Thakur directed that police officers on leave should resume duty . Sources said the directive underscores the fact that state is taking the terror input very seriously.A high-level meeting of top cops and senior government officials was also held at the secretariat to discuss the plan of action in wake of the specific terror input.Meanwhile, in Pathankot, Western Army Commander Lt Gen K J Singh told reporters, "There are security-related problems today. You know, Maha Shivratri is coming. There are inputs which are disturbing but notwithstanding that extra care has been taken."When asked to elaborate on the inputs, he refused but said such events are planned to create "maximum media impact" given the fact that the Parliament session is on and a major festival is round the corner.