NIA receives threat mail from Taliban about terrorist attack in Mumbai; cops on high alert

According to the NIA, the e-mail was reportedly generated on the orders of Taliban leader Haqqani.

Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has received a threatening e-mail about terror attacks in Maharashtra capital Mumbai, sources said on Friday. The NIA has issued an alert to security agencies in various cities in the country in the wake of the threatening email.

As per the sources, the e-mailer who is claiming to be a member of the Taliban said there would be terror attacks in Mumbai and that the email was sent on the orders of Taliban leader Haqqani. It is learnt that the NIA has informed Mumbai Police about the e-mail to step up the security.

Subsequently, the Mumbai Police has appealed to the Mumbaites to alert the cops in case if they find any unidentified/abandoned or suspicious object anywhere. "Please alert the Mumbai police in case if you come across any suspicious objects," Mumbai police said. Bomb detection and defusal squads are pressed into service to scan the city for any explosives. The Mumbai police have also beefed security in all the sensitive locations and key infrastructures and the entire force is on high alert.

A few days ago, a phone call threatening to repeat an attack like 26/11 was received in the control room of the Mumbai Police. A similar phone call was made again threatening a terrorist attack on Haji Ali Dargah. The Mumbai Police had cordoned off the area around Haji Ali Dargah as a precautionary measure. However, in both the occasion, the threats turned out to be hoax. Police said the person who made the threat calls was mentally unsound.

It can be recalled that in October last year also, the Mumbai police had received a suspicious call from an unidentified caller informing that bombs are planted at several key places across Mumbai. The suspicious phone call was received on the helpline number 112, officials said. The caller had claimed that three bombs have been planted in the city at Infinity Mall Andheri, PVR Mall Juhu, and Sahara Hotel Airport, which too turned out to be a hoax.