india

Updated: Jul 20, 2020 21:42 IST

Over the last 10 days, as state governments were asked to gear up for the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Babri Masjid- Ram Janmabhoomi case, the “dark web” had been buzzing with messages from the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), and multiple security agencies have now warned the government about a “major terror attack,” a senior officer who did not want to be named said.

Importantly, multiple agencies like the Military Intelligence, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) have simultaneously warned the government of a possible attack. “It just indicates the seriousness of the threat,” the senior officer said. “Each of these agencies have come to the same conclusion individually,” the officer said.

“The frequency of the communication jumped several-fold in the last 10 days as it was increasingly clear that the judgment could be expected anytime,” the senior official said. Importantly, much of the communications through the “dark web,” are encrypted and “coded”, making the task of security agencies that much more difficult, a second senior official who did not want to be named said.

With the judgment delivered, the apprehension of a “desperate terror” attack by Pakistan-based terror groups within the security establishment is at an all-time high. “The idea is to trigger communal backlash,” the second senior official said.

Analysing the communications and matching it with other intelligence, security agencies have zeroed in on possible targets and initiated measures to counter the possible threat. The targets include New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

Security agencies have been in a state of heightened alert since August 5, when Parliament scrapped the special status of Jammu & Kashmir. “The current effort to carry out a terror attack is separate and appears more determined,” the second senior official said.