Pak-sponsored terror threat real, says NSG chief

Warns of increase in infiltration in J&K ahead of elections

Pakistan-sponsored terror attacks may be less frequent now but the threat posed by them is real and their “infrequent” strikes still have an impact, National Security Guards (NSG) chief J N Chaudhury said on Thursday.

Similar is the case with Maoists and North-East insurgents, he said while emphasising the need to stay alert against infiltration attempts into Jammu and Kashmir in the coming months as the state is scheduled to go for Assembly polls.

Inaugurating the Ficci Homeland Security 2014 conference here, he said India stands to face the challenge of big terrorist attacks as the ultras want to show that the country is an unsafe investment destination and destroy its self confidence.

“The threat from Pak-based terror outfits like Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Indian Mujahideen (IM), which primarily works out of Karachi, is very real. Incidents may not be frequent but infrequent incidents have impact.

Responding to these threats is complex as terror masterminds have a global footprint, their operations and financing planned out of the country,” he said.

It is a challenge for security agencies to guard the coastline and “porous” Indian borders with Nepal and Bangladesh as the “jihadi” threat looms large, he said.

On the Maoist problem, he said the level of violent incidents has come down but they still have “lethal ability” to launch a sensational attack. He also termed the insurgent activities in the North-East as “cottage industry”.

A declining trend in violence in the North-East is witnessed but it cannot be said that the region has become militancy-free, he noted.

He also warned that infiltration attempts from across the border into Kashmir are expected to increase as Assembly polls in the state will be held later this year.

“You would have seen that in the recent past a lot of infiltration attempts have been thwarted but with the elections coming up later this year in that state you can only expect them to increase,” he said.

On the sidelines of the conference, Chaudhury said that the NSG has decided to stop taking any more protectees under its elite “black cat” commando security cover.

“We are a counter-terror organisation. We will not be able to manage more protectees under our cover. According to our mandate and present strength we will not be able to take anymore such duties,” he said.