The Gujarat Police and the Central security agencies have intensified checks along the coastal areas following recent intelligence reports about the possibility of terrorists sneaking into India through the sea-route. The IB report, according to senior state police officers, had indicated of a possible infiltration bid through the sea route around the third week of September.

Police security near all the 102 major and minor landing centres along the state’s 1,600 km coastline had already been beefed up since the first week of September, when the Centre had shared the intelligence report with Gujarat.

Gujarat Police officers deployed at check-points in the coastal areas have been instructed to note down the mobile phone numbers of the people whose vehicle they scrutinise during routine checks. This is being done in addition to the routine practice of checking people’s driving licences and vehicle registration booklets.

Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Sudhir Sinha said: “Effective police checking is being done in the wake of the intelligence reports regarding the terrorist threat. The mobile phone numbers are being taken to ensure that senior officers can cross-check how effectively the checking party carried out their duties.”

He added that there was a high-level meeting of all security agencies in the state. “It was decided in the meeting that all officers of the Coast Guard, Customs and Gujarat Police along with officials of the Fisheries Department, who check the fishing boats entering the Gujarat coast, will maintain a record of the boat owner’s mobile phone or other contact numbers,” he said.

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