Security has been beefed at the world famous 17th century monument Taj Mahal following a threat by the Islamic State terror group.
Security arrangements, which are being looked by the Central agencies, have once again being spruced after inputs revealed that seventh wonder of the world -Taj Mahal, will be targeted by terror group (IS). ADG (law and Order) Daljeet Chowdhary claimed here on Friday that security has been enhanced in and around Taj Mahal in view of the threat. He said that besides central forces, they also alerted the local cops and deployed more jawans of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) to avert any untoward incident.
Meanwhile, security personnel led the security drill while crossing the Yamuna by teams from the bomb disposal squad and SWAT, besides Taj security personnel.
Though the local police officers maintained that this was part of a regular security drill associated with the Taj Mahotsav to be held this week, but later senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) in Agra, Preetinder Singh acknowledged that security was stepped up in view of media reports of a pro-Islamic State media group issuing a warning of attacks on the Taj Mahal.
“There has been no security threat received nor any alert issued officially in this regard but going by media reports, security at Taj Mahal has been enhanced,” the SSP said. “With Taj Mahal being a destination of not only national but international importance, we already have routine security drills but for now, these security drills have been enhanced,” the SSP added.
Agra will host the Taj Mahotsav – a 10-day festival of art and craft from Saturday — and Shilpagram, the venue of the festival, is just a kilometer away from the monument.
It may be mentioned that a pro-Islamic State media group has warned of attacks in India and published a graphic depicting the Taj Mahal as a possible target. The graphic by the Ahwaal Ummat Media Center was posted on a channel of Telegram, the encrypted communication app, on March 14, according to Site Intelligence Group, which tracks jihadi activity on the web. “A link has been circulated in which it is claimed that Taj Mahal is on the target of ISIS. We are probing it. However, security has been enhanced in and around the
monument,” confirmed a senior police officer. The security was also jacked up following website showed graphics of the Taj Mahal with a terrorist standing alongside holding what looked like a weapon. According to reports, a pro-ISIS media group published a graphic depicting Taj Mahal, one of the wonders of the world, as a possible target of the terror outfit. The graphic was released almost a week after security agencies carried out combing operation here in lucknow in which one accused – Saifullah – was killed and six others were
arrested. It was reported that Saifullah was brainwashed by ISIS through the online medium and had carried out an attack on a train in Bhopal. The graphic features an ISIS fighter wearing combat fatigues and black headgear armed with an assault rifle standing near the Taj Mahal. It also features three inset pictures – an image of Taj Mahal within crosshairs with the words “New Target” below it, a van with the Arabic text “Agra istishhadi” (Agra martyrdom-seeker) written in English, implying the threat of a suicide bombing, and an image of a “bomb”.
last month CISF personnel went into a tizzy when a youth from Tamil Nadu tried to scale the walls of the heritage monument. The 31-year-old man from Tamil Nadu was later handed over to local police. In April last year, three youths from Delhi had tried to scale the wall of Taj Mahal in an inebriated state. They were nabbed by CISF personnel and handed over to local police.