Trained pilots in India on terror mission

Mumbai: Security agencies have been placed on high alert following an intelligence report that 7-8 trained pilots and around a dozen women fidayeen have entered the country on a mission to carry out terror strikes and hijackings. Security arrangements across the country have been beefed up following the input that was received six days ago by Maharashtra police and some other security agencies. This was three days before the threat e-mail landed at the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai and a Taj property in Chennai.
All security agencies have now been briefed about a group of 20 people entering India. A source said, "A group of 20 people, who could be Pakistani nationals, have entered the country to carry out terror strikes or a plane hijack. The group includes seven trained pilots and 13-14 women."
The latest intelligence is also one of the most serious threat intimations received by the aviation ministry. "While we have been receiving terror threats repeatedly after 26/11, the current input is clearly the biggest one airports have received so far," said an official.
The message was conveyed to the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), which forwarded it to all airports across the country.
For the aviation sector, the message revives memories of the IC-814 hijacking by Jaish-e-Mohammed operatives on December 24, 1999.
02/04/09 Chinmayi Shalya & Mateen Hafeez/Times of India

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Categories: Safety Apr 2009