Uttar Pradesh alerted about possible attack on foreigners

LUCKNOW - Central intelligence agencies have advised the Uttar Pradesh government to watch out against possible terrorist attacks on foreigners in the state, state home ministry officials said Monday.

According to sources in the home ministry, the advisories - understood to be received from the Intelligence Bureau as well as the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) - followed high level meetings in New Delhi over the past two days in which the movements of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative David Coleman Headley were taken into account.

“We have taken serious note of the advisories and have issued necessary instructions to senior police officials in Agra and Varanasi in particular because these were the two cities of the state that draw the maximum number of foreigners,” a senior home ministry official told IANS.

“Not only has security been beefed up wherever necessary, but we have also stepped up our intelligence network to keep track of any suspicious activity,” he added.

Meanwhile, district officials were also asked to issue appeals to the common public to keep their eyes and ears open for anything suspicious.