Delhi Terror Alert: LeT Eyes Chandni Chowk Temple & Red Fort Revenge Strike

LeT Targets Old Delhi Sites

Reports on Saturday about possible plots by the group in the form of an improvised explosive device (IED) attack and that a temple in the Chandni Chowk vicinity might be targeting terrorists. The outfit is reportedly also apparently seeking to avenge a February 6 mosque blast in Islamabad and it may be plotting a major strike in India, said the sources. 

"Blast alert in front of the Red Fort in Delhi. Terrorists may target a temple in Chandni Chowk. Lashkar-e-Taiba is plotting an IED attack. They are planning a major terrorist attack in India to avenge the February 6th mosque blast in Islamabad, Pakistan. Major temples in the country can be targeted by Lashkar-e-Taiba," the report said.

Security Measures Intensify

Central agencies and Delhi Police units are closely coordinated, and more surveillance has been carried out, including CCTV monitoring, vehicle checks and the deployment of extra personnel at vulnerable points. Bomb disposal squads, dog squads and quick reaction teams have also been deployed to neutralize at designated strategic areas, they added. 

Though monitoring is ongoing to verify and assess intelligence inputs, security has been augmented in, and around, sensitive religious sites and heavily-populated public spaces. Paramilitary employees have been deployed over 24 hours, with surveillance of temple grounds from above and below.

Past Red Fort Attack Echoes

The latest alert comes nearly three months after the November 10, 2023, car bombing outside Delhi’s Red Fort, one of the deadliest terror attacks in the capital in decades. The explosive, by the explosives-laden Hyundai i20, near the Red Fort Metro Station, killed at least 12 people and injured more than 20 others, and burned multiple vehicles beside. Investigators later determined ammonium nitrate-based explosives had been involved in the explosion.