Kerala - Kochi   

Kochi police step up intelligence gathering

KOCHI: The arrests of suspects in the Ahmedabad bomb blasts revealing terror connections to the State have put the police on extra alert.

A senior official in the State Special Branch said they were hot on the trail of those who had been picked up sometime ago in connection with a religious meet.

Also, those found to be associating with banned outfits like the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) have been put under surveillance, he said.

Except for stepping up this intelligence gathering, the police can do nothing much in fighting back the spread of terrorist activities. Senior police officials admit the presence of seditious activities in the region.

“Thorough surveillance, especially in remote tourist spots is impractical. We can only augment policing with intelligence gathered using various agencies under the State police along with that collected by the local police,” said Vinson M. Paul, Inspector General of Police, Ernakulam Range.

While these activities are suspected mostly along rural areas, the City Police have also alerted its intelligence gathering system.

Suspects operated under the guise of tourists at Wagamon.

Though the city has enough tourist spots tucked away from public glare, the police put the chance of such activities in the city as marginal or non-existent.

“There is not much threat of training, as it happened in Wagamon, within the city limits.

At the most, they could be scouting for sympathisers. We have anyway intensified the intelligence gathering process that was already on,” said Manoj Abraham, City Police Commissioner.

Police officials in the city have taken notice of the trend where participation is increasing for religious meetings.

Senior officials are relying on the wisdom that the city would not be chosen for seditious activities because of its swelling population.

Still, the police have instructed its shadow wing to be on the look-out for any suspicious activities. “Nothing of that sort has been brought to our notice in recent times,” said C. Jayachandran Nair, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Special Branch.

But the police are not leaving anything to chance.

They are in constant touch with religious leaders in areas like Mattancherry.

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