Terror threat looms over Parsi New Year, police on high alert

The government has issued an alert to the police of various cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Goa, etc.

Iranians in India will have to cautiously celebrate their New Year as the government has issued an alert regarding a possible terror strike on the occasion.

The government has issued an alert to the police of various cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Goa, etc. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Iranian tourists in India are vulnerable to serious threats as elements which are commonly hostile to India and Iran may try to sabotage tourist destinations which are commonly visited by Iranians.

According to a senior government official, security has been beefed up and the police of various states have been asked to stay on high alert keeping the Iranian New Year, or Nowruz as it is known, in mind.
“Iranians across the world celebrate their New Year on March 21. It is expected that Iranian nationals will gather at various tourist destinations across the country and keeping this in mind, cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, Bengaluru, Pune, Mysore, etc are on high alert. Security agencies have tightened vigil at various places, including the Capital, to prevent any untoward incident,” a senior police officer said.
The home ministry, in a letter, has also advised security to be beefed up.

Delhi will also have places where Iranian nationals are expected to gather and celebrate their New Year. Security of various places in the Capital, including famous markets, has also been beefed up.
“Nowruz marks the beginning of the Persian spring festival and is celebrated on March 21 every year. This year, due to threats from various terror organisations, the alert has been issued. We have deployed personnel at famous places in Delhi and quick response teams also have been deployed at many locations,” a senior Delhi Police officer said.

Recently, the Capital was put on high alert after intelligence agencies said around 10 militants, belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed had sneaked into Gujarat with an intention to carry out attacks around Maha Shivratri.

Authorities had rushed four teams of the National Security Guard (NSG) to Gujarat and were also forced to cancel the celebrations at the famous Somanth Temple, where hundreds of pilgrims were expected to gather.
In Delhi, security personnel fanned out across crowded markets like Sarojini Nagar and Lajpat Nagar, put up barricades to check vehicles at various locations and frisked visitors at popular temples keeping in view the escalated terror threat.

Recently, security forces claim to have killed three Pakistani terrorists.

Working on the intelligence that Pakistan National Security Adviser Naseer Janjua shared with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval about the possibility of 10 terrorists infiltrating India from Pakistan, security agencies launched a nationwide manhunt and succeeded in tracking down three of them.

A top official in the security establishment said agencies have still not verified the identities of those killed.

Published on India Today