The national Capital has been put on high alert after intelligence agencies were made aware of a message on a WhatsApp group, believed to be run by Jaish-e-Mohammed. The message said the militant outfit plans to strike sensitive locations in Delhi to avenge the killing of its commander in Jammu and Kashmir last month.
The Intelligence Bureau on Tuesday circulated a letter, dated November 13, asking the intelligence wings of security forces to maintain “high priority alert” and “activate intelligence” in light of the threat.
Hindustan Times has a copy of the letter which reads, “according to a message circulated by one Pakistani national Ameer Hamza, using the mobile number [redacted], in WhatsApp group ‘Jesh Communication Centre’ that Jaish-e-Mohammed is planning to carry out terrorist attacks on security establishments in Delhi to avenge the killing of its commander Usman alias Huzaifa in Tral, Pulwama, on October 30.”
The letter adds that the Pakistani national, Hamza claims to be a part of JeM’s student wing, Talba al-Murabitoon, in Karachi, Pakistan.
Two Jaish-e-Mohammed operatives, one of them Usman, suspected to be the nephew of Jaish chief Maulana Masood Azhar, were killed in an encounter by security forces in south Kashmir’s Tral on October 30.
A letter has also been sent to various security establishments such as the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), National Security Guards, Railway Protection Force and Delhi police to put high alert at important installations in Delhi.
Prasanta Patnaik