Kerala Coast on High Alert After Intel on Islamic State Threat

Coastal police department said it has been on alert since 23 May after the intelligence input came from Sri Lanka.

Photo used for representation. 

(Photo: PTI)

The Navy, Coast Guard and Coastal police are maintaining a high level of surveillance off Kerala and Lakshadweep coasts following intelligence reports that a boat carrying 15 Islamic State Terrorists had set off from Sri Lanka to the Lakshadweep islands.

“The Navy and Coast Guard are maintaining vigil. Ships and aircraft have been engaged to ensure high level of coastal surveillance”, Naval sources told PTI on Sunday.

Coastal police are also continuing their vigil.

Kerala Police sources had on Saturday said coastal police stations and coastal district police chiefs have been alerted.

Though such alerts are a usual practice, as there is specific information, coastal police stations and police chiefs of coastal districts have been asked to be alert in case suspicious vessels are sighted.

The coastal police department said it was on alert since 23 May, the day the alert came from Sri Lanka.

“We have been on alert since the Sri Lankan attack. We have alerted fishing vessel owners and others venturing into the sea to be cautious,” a coastal police department official told PTI.

After the serial bombings in Sri Lanka, Kerala was on alert, especially after NIA investigations revealed that IS operatives had planned attacks in the state.

Intelligence agencies believe that a considerable number of Keralites are still with the IS, which was recently wiped out from Iraq and Syria.

Sri Lankan Navy Puts Vessels on Alert

The Sri Lankan Navy, meanwhile, said that its coastal guard vessels and personnel have been alerted following the IS threat reports.

"The Navy has come to know through the reports in local and Indian media that some 15 local IS members were moving to India's Lakshadweep islands through the sea route," Sri Lankan Navy spokesman Isuru Suriyabandara said.

"We have alerted all our coastal guard vessels and personnel," he added.

The spokesperson also said the Navy had not received any official information in this regard.

“The possibility of the local Jihadi group members moving to India, however, had not been communicated to the Navy through the official channels,” Suriyabandara said, as per PTI.

Sri Lanka witnessed the worst terror attacks on its soil, when nine suicide bombers carried out a series devastating blasts that tore through three churches and as many luxury hotels on 21 April, killing around 260 people, including over 40 foreigners, and injuring 500 others.

(With inputs from PTI)