A massive security operation swung into gear in Indian cities and the strife-torn regions of Kashmir and the northeast Monday, amid militant threats to turn Tuesday's Independence Day into "destruction day".
The traditional precautions for the August 15 holiday have been tighter than ever this year due to an upsurge in militant unrest that followed the collapse of a ceasefire in Kashmir.
Police leave has been cancelled and most army and paramilitary border defence units have been placed on high alert, with hundreds of thousands of reinforcements drafted into sensitive areas.
Nowhere was security tighter than in Muslim-majority Kashmir, which has witnessed a series of separatist bombings since the dominant militant group Hizbul Mujahideen called off its unilateral ceasefire a week ago.
"The security all across Kashmir has been beefed up to prevent pro-Pakistan militants from striking in the coming days," K. Rajinderan, Kashmir deputy inspector general of police, told AFP.
"We have intercepted messages that the militants are planning a big strike, so extra troops have been deployed in all key areas."
Hardline Kashmiri guerrilla groups based in Pakistan threatened Monday to launch a series of assaults against Indian security forces.
"Our mujahideen will launch massive and fierce attacks on the military concentrations in occupied Kashmir to turn India's Independence Day into destruction day," Harkatul Mujahideen spokesman, Amiruddin Mughal, said.
A spokesman for the Lashkar-e-Taiba group said suicide squads had been assigned missions to sabotage Tuesday's events.
Security was especially heavy in the Kashmiri summer capital Srinagar, where the official Independence Day ceremony will be held at Bakshi Stadium.
Army troops in full battle gear patrolled the streets of the city, frisking pedestrians and searching private vehicles for explosives.
Access to the stadium was virtually cut off as the security forces "sanitised" the venue and its surroundings ahead of Tuesday's parade.
An equally intensive security operation was underway in northeast India, which has been wracked by separatist insurgencies for the past 50 years.
More than 50,000 federal troops have been deployed in the region, backed up by helicopters.
Security arrangements were also stepped up sharply in New Delhi, amid concerns of a militant strike at the heart of the Indian government.
"The Indian Air Force has been asked to shoot down all those planes which fly without taking permission on Independence Day," said New Delhi police chief Ajai Raj Sharma.
More than 200 police check points have been set up around the city, with powers to stop and search pedestrians and vehicles.
Similar measures were in place in India's commercial hub Bombay.
"There is a general alert in the light of what is happening in Kashmir and Delhi," said Bombay joint police commissioner D. Shivanandan: "We are plugging all possible loopholes." -- NEW DELHI (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
