NSG prepares for hijack threat

[Tronic]

NSG prepares for hijack threat

India has put its elite commando force, the National Security Guard (NSG), on high alert and stationed helicopters at its base for quick movement of troops in view of “credible” intelligence that Pakistan-based terrorist groups plan to hijack an Indian commercial aircraft in south Asia.

The Home Ministry had sounded an alert — reportedly based on Western intelligence — on Wednesday and followed it up with another on Thursday.

According to the inputs, groups linked to the Al Qaeda, Lashkar and Jamaat-ud-Dawa plan to hijack an Air India plane operating in any of the SAARC countries — India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, Afghanistan, Pakistan.
“We suspect there could be an attempt to target one of our airlines, especially one flying abroad. We have alerted our agencies on anti-hijacking measures,” UK Bansal, special secretary (internal security) at the ministry, said on Friday.
“Helicopters from the Border Security Force have already been requisitioned by the NSG,” a ministry official who didn’t want to be named said.

“The threat is credible and imminent,” another official said. “There is some more information we’re holding back to shore up our defence mechanisms.”

To make the skies safer, sky marshals (armed NSG commandos in plainclothes) will be placed on flights believed to be high risk and all those boarding flights will be frisked at ladder point.

“Necessary measures have been undertaken by all agencies in charge of security,” a Civil Aviation Ministry spokeswoman said.

“Hundreds of NSG men are already deployed on flights operating in sensitive airports. The deployment is in large numbers but we can’t share further details,” a senior NSG official told HT.

Thursday’s advisory followed intelligence reports that Lashkar-e-Tayyeba operatives in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir had sourced paragliding equipment for 50 people from China. But security officials said this was a long-term threat. “They will first train their men and then push them into India. Also, paragliding needs strong winds, which implies an attack on a coastal city,” a Home Ministry official said.
NSG prepares for hijack threat- Hindustan Times

[Merlin]

S Asia and other parts of the world should look at the future and the big picture.

Unfortunately the animosity between India and Pakistan still cannot end for decades, ever since the days of partitioning and independence in the late 1940s, leaving the unsettled territories of Kashmir. It is very sad.

[Zaitsev]

Something more on this one:

LeT planning daring aerial attack on R-Day, high alert sounded
New Delhi: India went on high alert as reports came in that Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba was planning an aerial attack during Republic Day celebrations and also working towards hijacking an Air India flight to one of the Saarc countries.


Passengers disembark from an Indian Airlines Airbus A300B2-101 aircraft after it landed at the Tribhuvan International Airport.
Intelligence reports indicated that LeT has acquired more than 50 para-gliding equipment from Europe, setting off alarm bells in the government that these could be used to carry out air-borne suicide attacks in the country during Republic Day celebrations when the sky would be filled with para-gliders and planes.

The intelligence input which came barely days ahead of Republic Day celebrations has prompted authorities to ensure a tight air security around all vital installations, official sources said here on Friday.

The input about movement of overground workers, owing allegiance to LeT, in Europe led the sleuths to find out that they were on a shopping spree for para-gliding equipment, the sources said.

Security agencies have carried out mock drills in different areas in the country as part of the exercise to prevent any air-borne suicide attack by LeT terrorists.

The input bears significance in view of the fact that government has already put all Air India planes operating in the country's neighbourhood on high security alert following intelligence reports from Western agencies that the LeT and other terror groups were planning to hijack a flight.

Radars located at strategic locations have been tuned to intercept all low flying objects and authorities are not taking any chances, sources said. A no-flying zone is already in place in capital's Luytens zone which houses the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Prime Minister's Office and key ministries like Home, Defence, Finance, External Affairs, among others.

Ahead of the Republic Day, elaborate air defence measures, including deployment of anti-aircraft guns, have also been taken to check possible intrusion of air space. Besides, helicopters of the Indian Air Force will hover over the areas around Rajpath and all along the route of the Republic Day parade.

LeT planning daring aerial attack on R-Day, high alert sounded - 1 -  National News ? News ? MSN India

the full article is much bigger..but this sort of sums it up.

What was interesting is that Let is looking at new tactics after increased ground and coastal security..the news on paragliders was especially rib tickling..
where do they intend to paraglide into from..certainly not via himalayas..the terrain is not ideal for paragliding..and the sections that are friendly terrain are heavily guarded fronts..they must surely be nuts if they attempt such things