Ex-Pak soldier, associates may strike Delhi on Holi: Intel alert

Security agencies were alerted about a former Pakistani soldier and six terrorists who crossed over to India to carry out attacks in Delhi on Holi.

A multi-state alert was sounded on Wednesday after an intelligence report claimed that a former Pakistani soldier has entered India through Punjab with six associates from terror outfits to carry out attacks on Holi.

Representative image) Security agencies were alerted about a former Pakistani soldier and six terrorists who crossed over to India to carry out attacks in Delhi on Holi.(AP File Photo)

According to the input, a former Pakistani soldier named Mohammad Khurshid Alam alias Jahangir crossed over to India from Pakistan through the Indo-Pak border in Pathankot on February 26 along with six hardcore terror operatives.

The input claimed that the group wants to target hotels and hospitals in Delhi.

The intelligence input said Alam had visited a madrasa in Barpeta district of Assam in September 2015 where he stayed for five days and then left for Chirang district bordering Bhutan.

The intelligence inputs generated across the country are shared on the platform of the multi-agency centre (MAC), a practice adopted after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and strengthened over the years so that no information slips through the gap.

Representatives from all intelligence agencies and state police participate in the MAC meetings daily.

The input about the former Pakistani solider has also been shared through the MAC platform and state police in Punjab, Assam and Delhi have been specifically asked to remain alert.

In the past nine months, there have been two major terror attacks in the country — one, on a police station building at Dinanagar in Gurdaspur, and another on the Pathankot air base.

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