GUWAHATI, Oct 12 - It will not be easy for Pakistan-based terrorists to strike in the northeastern region, but the police and security forces deployed in the region have been advised to keep a close watch on the situation to prevent any untoward incident.
Highly placed sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) told The Assam Tribune that though a countrywide alert was issued following India�s surgical strike against terrorists in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), till date, there is no specific intelligence input about the possibility of Pakistan-based terrorists making any plan to strike in the Northeast.
Sources said that according to inputs available, Pakistan-based terrorist outfits would definitely try their best to strike in India to take revenge against the surgical strike. There have been inputs that a good number of terrorists are still trying to sneak into India from Pakistan to take revenge against the surgical strike. The inputs also indicated the threats not only to Jammu and Kashmir, but also to the metropolitan cities. But there is no specific input about any possible threat to the Northeast.
Sources pointed out that because of the improved relation between India and Bangladesh, it would be difficult for the Pakistan-based terrorists to sneak into the Northeast through that country. There was a time when a number of Pakistan-based terrorist groups, including the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) had strong bases in Bangladesh, but because of the crackdown launched by the present regime in Bangladesh, such outfits lost their bases in that country and it would not be easy for them to enter India through Bangladesh.
However, at the same time, sources admitted that the police and security forces would have to keep a close eye on the situation as because of the porous nature of the India-Bangladesh border, the possibility of terrorist elements sneaking into the country to trigger off an explosion cannot be totally ruled out. It is a fact that a number of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, Bangladesh (JMB) militants managed to sneak into Assam from Bangladesh and more than 20 of them have already been arrested in the State.
However, sources said that JMB does not have links with the Pakistan-based terrorist groups. Moreover, one faction of the JMB has established connection with the Islamic State (IS), which is a cause of concern for India and the Indian security agencies are in constant touch with their Bangladesh counterparts to share inputs about activities of ultras.
