Maharashtra was today briefed on the security threat from terrorists days ahead of the Independence Day and the Ganapati festival. The meeting, held at North Block, was chaired by Union Home Secretary V K Duggal and attended by the chief of the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Maharashtra Police, K P Raghuvanshi, besides other senior officials.

A highly placed source said that the state delegation was informed about intelligence inputs on likely strikes at selected places in Mumbai around August 15 and the Ganapati festival that commence in the latter part of this month. It has become a usual practice for terrorists and militants to create disturbances during certain occasions, especially Independence and Republic Days.

The Mumbai police have been asked to take all preventive measures to foil any such attempts, sources said.

Today’s meeting was supposed to have been attended by Maharashtra chief secretary D K Sankaran and Director General of Police P S Pasricha but heavy rains kept them tied in Mumbai. Another meeting with the duo has been scheduled at North Block towards the later part of the week.

After the meeting, Duggal and the state delegates briefed National Security Adviser M K Narayanan on the scenario and the measures taken to thwart any untoward incidents.