The Maharashtra government on Monday put the entire State, including sensitive locations and foreign consulates, on high alert following fears of retaliation in the wake of the killing of Osama bin Laden.
“We have put the State under high alert. At a meeting held this morning [Monday], senior officials were issued directions to supervise security arrangements. Since we receive regular inputs about consulates being the target, bandobust is already tight. The U.S. consulate has its own security arrangements,” Home Minister R.R. Patil told journalists here. The Arthur Road prison, which housed 26/11 attacker Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab, will continue to be under a heavy security blanket.
Mr. Patil said there was no immediate information about Lashkar-e-Taiba sleeper cells in the State getting activated in response to Osama's killing.
Asked to comment on why 1993 Mumbai serial blast mastermind underworld gangster Dawood Ibrahim could still evade arrest, Mr. Patil said the issue was linked to international policy. Soon after the news of Osama's death came in, security across the city was heightened. “We have increased patrolling in the city and the security at all the vital installations beefed up,” Mumbai Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) Rajkumar Vhatkar told The Hindu .
Mr. Vhatkar said the police have been asked to be vigilant about “any disturbances anywhere.”
“If there is a possibility of retaliation, we need to be on guard. There have not been any new alerts after the news of his death,” Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Umesh Chandra Sarangi said.
Meanwhile, there was no confirmation if news of Osama's killing had reached Kasab. Amin Solkar, who represented him at the Bombay High Court, told The Hindu Kasab was not permitted to read newspapers. “If he gets to know anything, it is likely from the jail guards,” he said.
