SALEM: The police have stepped up security in and around the Salem Junction and adjoining stations and intensified patrolling of tracks, following receipt of a letter that threatens to blow up 10 trains in the State on February 3 as "revenge for the torture of Muslim prisoners in State prisons."

Senior Intelligence officials are concerned about the origin and timing of the letter, which threatens to strike a day prior to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit here to inaugurate work on a four-lane National Highway project.

The writer, A.S. Alaudhin, has mentioned "TNTJ (AMF Block)."

According to a senior police officer, TNTJ stands for the Tamil Nadu Tavid Jamad and AMF for Al Mukthar Force. Preliminary investigation has traced the Force to Thanjavur. Special squads have been formed to trace Alaudhin.

The letter received by the Station Manager on Saturday evening sought the Government's attention to the suffering of 300-odd Muslim prisoners who "were being tortured in the prison cells for the past nine years without any enquiry." It demanded action against officers responsible for the "torture."

Security and check-posts set up in Muslim localities should be immediately removed, it said. It demanded that the list of those who took part in the "killing of Imam Ali" should be made public. "If the Government fails to respond... we will blow up 10 trains... We warn the passengers. We will never permit others to live if our people are not permitted to live."

Security has also been stepped up at stations in Tirunelveli district after the Station Manager of Tirunelveli Junction Vickraman received a similar letter on Sunday. Sources said the letter was from M.L. Sulaiman of TNTJ (AMF Block).

In Chennai, a letter addressed to the Egmore Railway Station Manager that landed at the Station Master's room on Sunday morning carried a threat to blow up all trains running south from Chennai on February 3.

The letter in the name of Rajendran of Anna Nagar demanded that the Government should release all Muslim prisoners.

Railway police at the Egmore Railway Station said they had issued alerts to all stations. The police said the Railway Protection Force had also been informed.

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