Mumbai: The security agencies have stepped up surveillance at the Mumbai airport and in the surrounding areas, following a new intelligence warning of a possible terror strike during the 10-day Ganpati festival.
The alert was received from the Intelligence Bureau some days ago and following this, hoteliers and representatives of Ganpati mandals near the airport were given a briefing by the divisional deputy commissioner of police at the Bandra-Kurla police station, sources in the state intelligence department said.
Such alerts are issued regularly ahead of these events and security agencies are taking necessary steps to guard the airport and the places where devotees will congregate during the festival.
According to one hotelier, who attended the briefing, the police asked businesses to beef up security and look out for any suspicious persons or activity around their premises.
“We will follow the orders to the tee,” he said.
The Central Industrial Security Force that is in charge of safety operations at the airport has increased surveillance along the airport perimeter, in the aircraft parking bays and vehicles parking lot outside the airport.
There was a similar intelligence alert ahead of Independence Day last month. The Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport is among the busiest airports in the sub-continent with more than 30 million travellers using the facility annually.
DNA/Shahkar Abidi
