R-Day: Tight vigil in Delhi, spl watch on movement of animals

Delhi Police and paramilitary personnel will be keeping a tight vigil on Republic Day in the national capital tomorrow with an eye on the movement of animals in view of intelligence inputs that terror groups might use them as suicide bombers.

Delhi Police was sent a special advisory today informing them that terror groups might use animals to target crowded areas like important installations, railway stations, etc, to create a panic situation.

While the Delhi Police was earlier issued an advisory stating that terror groups might use new techniques, today they received a special advisory warning of this kind of an attack.

The advisory has been issued by Special Cell of Delhi Police and has asked personnel to keep a track of stolen pets since terror groups might have stolen them to carry out terror strikes.

Special arrangements have been made at the historic Rajpath where President Pranab Mukherjee, who is the supreme commander of armed forces, will be witnessing nation's military might that will be on display.

The entire Central and New Delhi region will have nearly 60,000 security personnel drawn from Delhi Police and Central security forces guarding every nook and corner.

Muksh Kumar Meena, special commissioner of police, New Delhi range said, "There is foolproof security in place. Senior officers of Delhi Police will be patrolling the area while borders have been sealed."

In view of recent intelligence inputs that terror groups like LeT might be planning to use helicopter charter services and charter flights to launch attack through air, Delhi Police along with other security agencies are keeping a tight vigil.

Police is using counter-drone technology to thwart any attack or identify any suspicious flying object, a senior police officer said.

Apart from this, security personnel will be stationed atop tall buildings with anti-aircraft guns. CCTV cameras have been installed and a special control room has been set up where the feed will be monitored by Delhi Police and paramilitary personnel, the officer said.

The advisory that has been issued to security agencies states that "it is imperative for the security forces to be familiar with the range of threats for devising appropriate counter means" since the use of conventional weapons by the terrorist and criminal groups is a part of an ongoing process to develop new techniques and tactics.

Security forces have also been asked to ensure that proper frisking and checking of police personnel and other personnel is carried out since there is a possibility that terrorists may disguise themselves as security personnel. According to the advisory, "terrorists may use uniform of security forces for fidayeen attack" and there should be adequate arrangements made for identification and frisking of personnel who are part of the celebrations.

Security agencies have also been warned that some Muslim extremist organisations are planning 9/11 type of attacks using aeroplanes carrying personnel and weapons on board.

'NOTAM' (Notice to Airmen) has been declared from 10.35 AM to 12.15 PM during which no commercial flights will land or take off at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police has set up a wireless integrated public address (WIPA) system to enhance security at crowded places and popular markets in the city.

WIPA is a centralised public address system now installed at 31 crowded places and markets in Delhi, and also in 13 major metro stations.