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Journalism of Courage
Panic spread among the students of the Loreto House on Wednesday morning after the school authorities received a call that students should avoid using the Metro services.
The caller claimed that he was speaking from Metro Bhavan 8212; the administrative headquarters of the underground rail services in Kolkata. 8220;We got a call from Metro authorities in the morning asking us not to use the rail services. We told the students to be careful and use the Metro at their discretion,8221; said the school principal.
Since the Loreto House is located on Middleton Street, many students use the Metro services for commuting.nbsp;Later in the day, panic also spread among students of the Loreto College.
8220;The college authorities announced around 10 am that educational institutions and the Metro can be the next terror target,8221; said a third year student of the college.
The Metro authorities, however, denied that they made any call. 8220;We did not call the Loreto House or any other school about the possibility of threat at any Metro station. We received some calls in this regard
and we clarified that the no such alert has been issued,8221; said J K Mitra, the Chief Operating Manager of the Metro Railways.
Kolkata police sources, however, confirmed that the Metro authorities have been issued a high alert as the underground rail can be a possible terror target after the attack in Mumbai. The Kolkata police authorities have held several rounds of talks with Metro officials and other security agencies in this regard. Nearly 4,50,000 passengers travel by the Metro per day.
Several schools like St Augustine, St James High School, Birla High School for Boys and Apeejay School have beefed up the security arrangements at their premises. The schools have also made arrangements with the Kolkata police for training their security personnel. Some schools have also installed CCTV cameras.
