NEW DELHI: The threat assessment for VVIPS and vital installations in the Capital is being reviewed by the Delhi police in view of intelligence inputs about militant outfits linked to the dreaded Al Qaeda planning to target them. The police are also concerned over the growing nexus between such fundamentalist outfits and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

The police have, from their counterparts in other States and the Central intelligence agencies, have been getting inputs about conspiracies being hatched by outfits like Hizbul Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Al-Badr to target VVIPs and places of prominence. Special Commissioner of Police (Security and Armed Police) B.K. Gupta in his contributory article to the Delhi police annual report for last year had dealt with this issue.

According to him, outfits having links with Al Qaeda have openly threatened to target VVIPs, giving a new dimension to the threat perception. The issue gains importance when studied against the backdrop of the growing cooperation between these outfits while carrying out terrorist strikes in the country, including the Capital. While a probe into the Parliament attack case in 2001 exposed the nexus between the JeM and the LeT, interrogation of those arrested in several other cases revealed that outfits like Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami (HuJI), which is said to be a founding member of a coalition of terrorist organisations formed under Al Qaeda, and Harkat-ul Mujahideen, have also joined hands to expand the network of terror across the country.

The interrogation of ISI agents arrested recently in different parts of the country has also revealed that their links with fundamentalist organisations have in fact been strengthened and the outfits are being encouraged to carry out assassinations of prominent politicians and target institutions. In the latest case, militants targeted the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore when top scientists were participating in an international conference.

While the police have been carrying out operations to liquidate the terrorist modules in the Capital, according to Mr. Gupta, activities of naxalite groups like People's War Group (PWG) and the Moist Communist Centre (MCC) in other States are also being kept in mind while chalking out security plans.

In view of the huge task at hand, the police plan to procure equipment like frequency jammers, frequency scanners, under-vehicle surveillance gadgets and Non-Linear Junction Detectors (NJLD), which can detect all kinds of electronic devices meant for detonating improvised explosive devices and bombs. The gadget forms a part of specific detection equipment, when it comes to preventing the use of landmines and explosives with electronic timer or remote-controlled detonation mechanism.

The police have also been carrying out meticulous survey of places of frequent VVIP visits, like Maurya Sheraton, Taj Man Singh, Oberoi, Taj Palace hotels and Hyderabad house to pinpoint high-risk areas in terms of security for a swift anti-sabotage checks in future. "Premier educational institutions would also find a place in that list in future," said a police officer.

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