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Terror threat to Indian airports
Al-Qaeda plans bomb attacks in South Indian airports, says anonymous letter.
BY CORRESPONDENT
November 9, 2006
Airports across the country have been put on high alert following threats from al-Qaeda that it would blow up airports in Chennai, Kochi, Trichy, Thiruvananthapuram and Coimbatore.
The alert came after the Trichy airport authorities received an anonymous letter warning of an attack by al-Qaeda at airports in southern India. It was allegedly said in the letter that about 10 al-Qaeda terrorists will break the security cordon and carry out attacks.
With the letter mentioning that car bombs may be used to carry out the attacks, the security across the country’s airports are on a high vigil. All efforts are being taken to ward of attacks, which the authorities fear might be undertaken using sophisticated techniques.
The Civil Aviation Ministry swung into action soon after holding meetings with officials of bureau of Civil Aviation Security, Home Ministry and CISF for constant review of the situation.
All airports have been brought under strict security and thorough frisking is on. Airport authorities have been asked to hold emergency meetings to discuss measures to safeguard against any terror attempt. They have also been asked to step up anti-hijacking and anti-sabotage measures.
The letter which was written in Tamil is being seen as an obvious hoax. However, authorities are not prepared to take any chance here at the moment. Reports from Trichy say that the letter was titled ‘Allah Osama’ and it warned of car bombs. The letter was found by an airport worker at a counter at the airport. Officials said plainclothes officers are also mingling with passengers and security observers have been told to be extra vigilant.
Meanwhile, authorities say that the letter may be seen as a hoax as it has combined Allah's name with a man's name like Osama.
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