Maharashtra police will now keep a watch and may even stalk girls and women wrapped in scarfs, as the central intelligence agency suspects that a female suicide squad trained in Pakistan may try to carry out an attack in Mumbai or Pune.
Interestingly, with summer slowly reaching its zenith in April and May, police and surveillance agencies will have a difficult time as a majority of girls and women not only cover their heads but also their face to avoid the heat, dust, sun-glare and tanning.
In a written reply to a query on intelligence alerts and security measures undertaken, state Home minister R R Patil quoted an input from secret services and said there was a possibility of hit-and-run- attacks by an all-female squad.
As per the strategic alert from the central intelligence agency, an all-woman commando trained squad prepared in Pakistan may try to sneak into metros in Maharashtra and carry out a hit-and-run attacks specially in cities like Mumbai and Pune.
Patil said the alert received on January 12 had been flashed to Mumbai police, railway police, district police and other security agencies that operate at airports and docks, with an instruction to implement standard operating procedure (SOP) formulated for untoward eventualities.
The security agencies along with surveillance units had been instructed to keep a special watch on women wearing scarfs and specially female foreign visitors who would have their heads covered.
However, even as the minister was quoting the specific intelligence alert, while talking to the press in Pune on February 23 soon after the Hyderabad blast, he had clarified that there was no specific input from the Centre regarding a possible terror strike in Maharashtra.
