M A I N   N E W S

BJP leaders on Jaish hit list
Security beefed up at party headquarters
S. Satyanarayanan
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 4
The top BJP leadership, including its President Venkaiah Naidu, and the party headquarters here have come under threat from the outlawed Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorist outfit, which has been responsible for the recent attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.

Disclosures made by one of the five JeM terrorists arrested recently by the Delhi police have brought to light the plans for carrying out sensational attacks at the BJP headquarters.

In fact, one of the five terrorists, the dwarf Noor Mohammad, had even made a recce of the BJP headquarters here on August 23, the day Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Gegong Apang took formal membership of the BJP here at a function.

He apparently went around the party complex and sought details of the offices of the various leaders, including Mr Naidu, Mr Pramod Mahajan and Mr Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, party sources said.

Following the sensational revelation, the party headquarters has been fortified with paramilitary forces manning all entry and exit points at the complex.

According to party sources, top officials of the Intelligence Bureau, the Delhi police and other security agencies held a meeting today with top BJP officials to work out the details on security arrangements.

“As far as the security of BJP leaders is concerned, security agencies in consultation with the government will take necessary steps, but at the party level we have decided to take some measures at the party headquarters,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told The Tribune.

“Soon we will be installing surveillance cameras and all visitors will be frisked and issued entry slips as a precautionary measure”, he said.

Parking of vehicles, including that of mediapersons on the headquarters premises and an adjoining building would be barred, he added.