India tightens security after terror warning

Authorities in New Delhi tightened security in the Indian capital after intelligence agencies warned of a possible terrorist attack during the weekend, officials said today.

A senior army official said the Government was warned that Islamic militants might target the India Gate – 138-foot stone arch built in the memory of Indian soldiers who died in the Second World War.

Thousands of New Delhi residents usually visit India Gate, surrounded by big lawns and a children’s park, for weekend family outings.

But the park was closed today.

The official said troops were called in to patrol areas of New Delhi where government buildings including the prime minister’s office and parliament are located.

Troops would also be patrolling these areas at night, and additional paramilitary troops and police have been deployed during the day, the official said.

Meanwhile, there was a bomb scare at the American School in the city.

An anonymous telephone caller to the school said a bomb was planted inside its complex. Police found no explosive, the duty officer of the local police station said.

The school, which is behind the US Embassy, and was closed today, caters mainly for the children of American diplomats.

The terror warning in New Delhi coincided with a gathering of thousands of Hindu nationalists in the city to pressure the government into handing over land near the ruins of a 16th-century mosque for a building a temple dedicated to Hindu god Rama.

Muslims oppose handing over the land to the Hindu groups.

The December 1992 demolition of the mosque at Ayodhya, a town 345 miles south east of New Delhi, by a Hindu mob sparked nationwide religious riots that left more than 2,000 people dead.

Within weeks of the demolition, a series of bomb blasts rocked the metropolis of Bombay, killing at least 257 people and wounding 1,100 others. Police said the attack was a revenge strike by Islamic militants.

On Sunday, gun-toting policemen were also on the streets of residential areas in other parts of New Delhi. Visitors to the city’s main cultural and shopping centres were stopped and checked before driving their cars into basement car parks.

There have been several terrorist attacks in New Delhi in recent years, including a gun and grenade attack on Parliament on December 13, 2001.

Police have blamed the attacks on Islamic militants, who have been fighting Indian troops in Kashmir, the Himalayan province divided between India and Pakistan.

More than a dozen Islamic separatist groups have waged a violent campaign since 1989 seeking independence for the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir or its merger with mostly Muslim Pakistan.

The 13-year insurgency has left more than 61,000 people dead.

India accuses Pakistan of funding and training the guerrillas. Pakistan insists it offers only moral support – not material aid – to the rebels, whom it calls freedom fighters.

The South Asian nuclear rivals have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir.