VIPs to get air cover on R-Day after RAW alert

According to the latest RAW report — a copy of which reached the police headquarters and North Block yesterday — the “targets of a possible rocket attack by militants are the Prime Minister’s residence, Rashtrapati Bhawan, radio and television staions and Army, Navy and Air Force headquartes.”

Special Commissioner (Security) R.S.Gupta disclosed that Air Force helicopters would be keeping a close watch “all over Delhi”.

The specific threat from air, officials added, has come this time from a group of Pakistan-trained militants carrying shoulder-held rocket launchers. Each such rocket has a range of eight kilometres.

RAW has also warned the Commission to another lurking danger which could be equally difficult to figure out. The militants, it has said, will spread out towards vulnerable areas in small group of threes; they will be wearing police uniforms and move around in “fake police Gypsies”.

Commissioner Sharma confirmed that instructions have been issued to be on the lookout for a group of Lashkar-E-Toiba militants who carry a brief to track down and strike select VVIPs. Led by Ezaz Rasool, “a Kathmandu based, highly trained militant who earlier operated from Gwalior”, the entire group recently entered India from Nepal, RAW said.