Mumbai serial blasts: Alarmed India on the toes again

The Centre has stepped up security vigil across the country following the terror attack in Mumbai on Wednesday evening.

The Union home ministry has asked all the states to heighten security measures, especially in the metro cities.

“All the state governments have been asked to increase police patrolling and keep forces on high alert,” an MHA official said.
Security forces and intelligence units have also been directed to step up vigil at sensitive and vulnerable places.

According to the MHA, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were used in the blasts in Mumbai to cause heavy casualties.

“It was a coordinated attack by terrorists. There is no information of threat of any more blasts in the city, even though entire Mumbai has been put on high alert,” Chidambaram said.

A senior MHA official said it was a premeditated attack with an intention to cause heavy casualty since the blasts occurred in heavily crowded market area during rush hours.

This is the second attack in Mumbai after the November 2008 terror strike, in which 166 people were killed.

The official expressed hope that the worst was over though all metro cities have been put on high alert.

“There is no way of predicting such events but we think the worst is over,” the official said. The official, however, observed that there was indeed a pattern in the attacks with regard to the dates.
While the obvious needle of suspicion points towards the

Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), which had carried out the 26/11 terror attack, Chidambaram said no group had claimed responsibility for these blasts so far.

The security agencies are also looking at the possibility of the Indian Mujahiddin’s (IM) hand as they feel that the attack was not as big and well coordinated as an LeT operation would have been given the 26/11 example.