“Militants had visited Goa thrice just to survey the coastal areas and crowded places,” and reportedly sought to target tourist attractions.
“Terror alert in serene Goa,” from the Press Trust of India:
PANAJI “” An alert has been sounded in Goa and police have intensified checking to track possible terror plots in the tourist hot spot, Chief Minister Digamber Kamat said yesterday.
The move follows the arrest of a suspected militant in Karnataka who had allegedly confessed about his plans to strike in Karnataka and Goa. The militant had reportedly said that he could not translate his terror plans into action as he failed to receive a consignment of 50 kgs of RDX explosive from Pakistan.
“We have sounded an alert all over the state and security has been strengthened,” the Chief Minister said. He said that the police department is carrying out checks to trace the possible terror links.
Kamat said that he has held a meeting with the top police brass along with Home Minister Ravi Naik and added that “at no cost the security of the people would be compromised”.
“According to our information, militants had visited Goa thrice just to survey the coastal areas and crowded places,” Naik said. The State Government has sought complete details of the case and further comments could be made only after obtaining them, Naik said.
However, highly placed police sources said that the militants had the famous North Goa’s Calangute-Baga beach belt in their hit list. The sources also said that a famous discotheque in the sea belt was a target.