'26/11-style' terror threats via social media - Mumbai Police get cracking

Taking serious cognisance of the '26/11-style' terror threats received via social media messages, the Mumbai Police got cracking with three teams formed to investigate, city Commissioner of Police Vivek Phansalkar said here on Saturday.

The threats were received on a WhatsApp chat message at the Mumbai Traffic Police Control Room around 11 p.m. on Friday, sending the city's security apparatus into a tizzy this morning.

"Mumbaikars should not panic. We are probing the issue from all angles and the Crime Branch is investigating it," Phansalkar told the media.

He confirmed that one of the numbers in the WhatsApp chat message seems to be from Pakistan while there are six other Indian numbers in the communication which are being tracked by the probe teams.

"We are examining it from all possible angles and the Anti Terrorism Squad will also be roped in. People of Mumbai need not be concerned," Phansalkar assured.

The message claimed that the next strike would 'revive the memories of the 26/11 (2008) terror attacks' in the city by heavily armed 10 Pakistani extremists - just 95 days before its oncoming 14th anniversary.


Among the first to react, Nationalist Congress Party's Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar said the state government must take the threat seriously and probe.

The latest threats came two days after the state experienced a major security hiccup when a yacht with three AK-47 guns and ammunition drifted to the Raigad coast and was stuck at Harihareshwar Beach.

Though a potential terror threat was ruled out in that incident, a detailed investigation is being carried out by the ATS and Raigad Police. - IANS