Delhi, NCR put on high alert over possible drone attack ahead of August 15
Sources said these \'inputs were being taken very seriously\' as Pak-based terror groups repeatedly used drones for subversive activities
New Delhi: Delhi and the surrounding National Capital Region has been put on high alert following intelligence inputs of a drone attack after these targeted key defence and installations in the Jammu sector close to the India-Pakistan border recently. With Independence Day on August 15 just a few weeks away, home ministry sources said these “inputs were being taken very seriously” as Pakistan-based terror groups have repeatedly used drones for subversive activities in both Kashmir and Punjab in the past few weeks.
The Intelligence Bureau in an alert informed the home ministry that following the “recent experimentation with drones in terror activities like targeting defence installations near border areas and the dropping of weapons and narcotics, terror groups want to target the national capital and its adjoining areas”.
Officials claimed that massive surveillance, both human and technical, has been mounted by the security agencies along with the Delhi police to constantly monitor the movement of drones in Delhi and its adjoining areas. Security is in any case usually strengthened in Delhi and its neighbourhood in the run-up to Independence Day.
The intelligence agencies have in their inputs claimed that a module of the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba terror group could possibly target some areas in Delhi and nearby areas in the next few weeks. A detailed data of drones with private individuals is also being scrutinised by the Delhi police.
“We have concrete information that Lashkar is feeling encouraged by the successful attempt on the Air Force Station in Jammu and the dropping of weapons in border villages of Punjab. They now want to try the same in Delhi before the Independence Day celebrations to create a bigger impact. But we have started technical and human surveillance to deal with the fresh threat,” a senior intelligence official said.
The sources said a detailed audit of drones and other Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) available with private individuals was being done not just in Delhi but also in the surrounding areas like Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad.