Terror groups to attack Indian coastal cities; Government

New Delhi: “Terror threats to coastal cities seem to be still in vein”, said government last night. The home ministry in Lok Sabha articulated that the inputs received by security agencies show threat to coastal cities from pan-Islamic terrorist outfits. The ministry has further added that the police forces in coastal states and Union Territories are well trained, adequately equipped and prepared to deal with terrorist threats.

Also, the government has been, on continuing basis, reviewing the security arrangements in the light of emerging challenges, including terrorist incidents and a number of significant steps have been taken to enhance the level of preparedness to counter terror attacks.

In response to a separate question on measures to deal with Naxal threat, the home ministry said it had permitted some Naxal-affected states to hire helicopters to support security forces involved in anti-Maoist operations. "To meet the shortfall, the left wing extremism (LWE) affected states have been permitted to hire helicopters under the security related expenditure scheme on need basis," the ministry said.

As per the inputs, Maharashtra and Orissa have hired one helicopter each from Pawan Hans to support security forces deployed in LWE affected areas.

Moreover, nine helicopters of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Border Security Force (BSF) have been provided to support security forces deployed in Naxal-affected states. "Out of these, four Mi-17 helicopters of IAF are located in Chhattisgarh and out of five ‘Dhruv’ helicopters of BSF, three are placed at Raipu.

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