‘5 men’ put Mumbai on max alert

The Navy, Indian Air Force (IAF) base and police in Mumbai were put on the “highest level of alert” after two schoolchildren from the coastal town of Uran, 50 kms from Mumbai, claimed to have seen five armed men early on Thursday morning. According to the two students of Uran Education Society — the girl is a class 10 student and the boy is in class 9 — the men wore black masks and Pathani suits of the same colour and were moving around the Uran bus depot in a “suspicious” manner.

The alert, which comes four days after the Uri attack which left 18 soldiers dead, has led to elite forces like the National Security Guard (NSG), the state police’s specialised commando team — Force One, and the ATS being roped in for search and security. The Navy pressed its helicopters for aerial surveillance and heightened patrolling in the sea by its vessels and high-speed boats.

In Delhi, meanwhile, a team of NSG commandos has been kept on stand-by at its base close to the IGI Airport, ready to be immediately flown to Mumbai if the need arises. Three units of NGS have been deployed at different locations in Delhi as well.

The two school students in Uran were questioned by several senior police officers. “Currently, we are at the Uran police station speaking to the kids. Our teams are scouting the entire area,” Navi Mumbai police commissioner Hemant Nagrale said. The girl was on her way to school around 6.30 am when she allegedly saw four to five armed men near the Uran bus depot. Then, at around 6.45 am, a boy who was at home, getting ready to go to school, also claimed to have seen a group of armed men. “The children told their teacher in school about it. The school authorities immediately informed the Uran police, who alerted senior officers from the Navi Mumbai police about the sightings,” a senior officer said.

Maharashtra director general of police Satish Mathur said that the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard had been alerted. “We have put the city on high alert and increased patrolling across the city,” said Mr Mathur. A high-ranking officer said that keeping in mind Uran’s proximity to Mumbai via the sea, security forces had been deployed along the coastal areas as well. Sources confirmed that 50 members from the elite commando team Force One had reached Uran.

The Western Naval Command (WNC) issued a “highest state of alert” along the Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane and Raigad coasts where several sensitive establishments and assets are located. Western India’s biggest naval base, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, fertiliser plants, refineries, power plants and the country’s largest container port, Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) are located in close vicinity of Uran.

Maharashtra minister of state for home, Deepak Kesarkar, said that the government has taken the Uran issue very seriously. “All concerned agencies have eyes on the alert. They have started combing operations,” Mr Kesarkar said. Sources also revealed that the additional chief secretary (Home), has ordered the director general of police Maharashtra to submit a detailed report on the incident by tomorrow.

The police has asked all local residents and officegoers at JNPT not to venture outside till the search and investigations are on. Locals at neighbouring Nhava Sheva have also messaged on a WhatsApp group that they are not being allowed to go out even to buy groceries by the on-duty cops due to the high alert.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has appealed to citizens not to panic. He tweeted: “All precautions are being taken. Massive combing operations are on. State and Central forces are working in close co-ordination”.