In a letter written on December 28, a day after Bhutto was killed in Rawalpindi, Narayanan claims that she died of gunshot injuries to her head and neck. “The motor-cycle borne assailant managed to fire five shots at her from an automatic weapon before detonating himself,” the NSA wrote. Adding that the PPP leader collapsed in her bullet-proof vehicle after being hit.

The NSA claims that the assassins must have profiled Benazir Bhutto as they knew that she could “seldom resist large crowds greeting her” and that led to exposing her head and neck to the killers. He goes on to add that either Bhutto would have been killed at that spot or elsewhere on that day as the assassination shows careful planning and specific detailing by the jehadis.

Warning Chief Ministers to take specific security precautions, the NSA reminded them about a presentation on “Emerging Terror Threat: New Wave Tactics” he had made at the internal security conference in the capital and later at the PM’s dinner on December 20. He said that the Prime Minister and the Home Minister had asked him to write this letter and alert them about the growing jehadi capability on planning sophisticated terror attacks.

Three days later, Union Home Ministry’s Special Secretary (Internal Security) M L Kumawat wrote to Chief Secretaries and Director Generals of all the states reiterating the need to beef up security of the VVIPs citing the Bhutto assassination once again. Calling for utmost vigilance and highest levels of security for the VVIPs, Kumawat’s letter says that after Bhutto’s assassination shows that Indian leaders could be the target, too.

Taking the threat seriously, Centre has decided to give two more “ details” of NSG to UP Chief Minister Mayawati for her close security even as the state government has mounted four light machine guns at her Kalidas Marg House in Lucknow.