SHIMLA, July 14: The recent terrorist attacks at Bhatinda, Moga and Pathankot have sounded alarm bells for the Himachal Pradesh police. The officials, who are reportedly ill-equipped to meet the threat posed by organised militant outfits from the neighbouring state, have sounded a general alert in the border districts to ``increase vigil and remain prepared''.

``We have done whatever was required in the wake of the Punjab incidents,'' said N C Joshi, Inspector General of Police (Law and Order). According to senior police officials, the State is yet to receive any specific information from either the Punjab police or the intelligence agencies. The most vulnerable areas in the state which have seen massive infiltration in the past are: Chamba, Sirmaur, Paonta Sahib, Nalagarh belt of Solan, Shimla, Kangra and Kullu. Terrorists from the neighbouring states of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir were known to have taken shelter in these areas. Although the state police had details about terrorist hideouts in Himachal, they did not keep track of their ``repeat visits'' after the militants slackened their activities in Punjab.

Field officials of the state police admitted that many Punjab and Kashmir terrorists have been entering Himachal for re-grouping and planning attacks in their own states. ``They have no plan to strike in Himachal as this state provides them with a safe haven,'' said a State intelligence officer. The terrorists known that they will have to look for another shelter if they start striking in the state, he added.

The Himachal police face problems due to the absence of a system for regular exchange of information with Punjab officials. There is no separate cell for co-ordinating militancy-related activities with the border states. The police personnel who were trained in anti-terrorist operations are now doing routine jobs. Those who are posted at entry points lack any orientation. A police official, who had worked as the SSP of a border district, said reports sent to the headquarters on terrorist-related activity were never taken seriously.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.