NEW DELHI: With Assembly polls scheduled in Jammu and Kashmir later this year, infiltration attempts from across the border are expected to increase, a top security official today said.
“You would have seen that in the recent past a lot of infiltration attempts (in Jammu and Kashmir) have been thwarted but with the elections coming up later this year in that state you can only expect them to increase,” NSG chief J N Choudhury said at a security conference here.
The National Security Guard (NSG) Director General also warned that India stands to face the challenge of big terrorist attack like incidents.
“The same terrorist forces that attacked our Parliament in 2001, they can be expected to do so in the future. The objective seems to be very clear. They want to attack our self-confidence, they want to make it clear to the world that India is not the investment destination that everyone thinks it is.
“The threat from Pak-based terror outfits like the Lashkar-e-Toiba, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen or the Indian Mujahideen (IM), which primarily works out of Karachi in Pakistan, is very real,” the DG said at an event organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
He said the future terror attacks could be of the ‘black swan’ variety.
“Though the security forces had been very successful in last many years as they have picked up many operatives (terrorist agents)…but incidents will not be frequent but they will be of the black swan variety – an infrequent incident that has a huge impact on the nation.
“Responding to these threats is complex as they (terror masterminds) have a global footprint, their operations, financing etc. are planned out of the country,” he said.
The ‘black cat’ commando’s chief said while the level of violent incidents in the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas has gone down, the Maoists possess a “lethal capability” to launch a sensational attack against high-value targets.
“The Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) are their (Naxals) main weapon of choice to inflict casualties,” he said.
He also termed the functioning of the burgeoning number of terror and ultra outfits in the country akin to a “cottage industry”.
Choudhury said it is a challenge for security agencies to guard the ‘open’ Indian borders with Nepal and Bangladesh as the ‘jehadi’ threat looms large.–PTI
