IPL prime target of terror attack: US think tank

Lalit K Jha


Washington, Mar 26 (PTI) The Indian Premier League (IPL),
which has now been shifted to South Africa, was the prime
target of a large scale terrorist strike by Islamic militants,
on the lines of 26/11, targeting a host of foreign cricket
players, a leading American think-tank has said.

Games being played in the southern Indian states of
Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka were more on the terrorist hit
list, it said.

"The Indian intelligence apparatus is thought to have
warned the central government of a flood of specific threats
against both Indian and foreign cricket players," said
Stratfor.

Based on the intelligence information it has from various
sources, Stratfor in its latest analysis said it received
indications early on from Indian security sources that the IPL
tournament was a prime target for another large-scale Islamist
militant operation following the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.

"Warnings of specific threats against the players came
from the governments of the states hosting matches, including
Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

"Given that these two states respectively are home to the
information technology hubs of Hyderabad and Bangalore — both
of which have a heavy foreign presence — and are where
multinational corporations doing business in India are
concentrated, these states are at a particularly high risk of
attack," it said.

The decision to sacrifice the IPL tournament for the sake
of security was made after security agencies carried out a
detailed threat scenario for the event and national elections.

The IPL was shifted to South Africa on Tuesday.
Stratfor said the March 3 attack in Lahore against the
Sri Lankan cricket team was a stark warning that the array of
Islamist militants in the region have an agenda to
internationalise their cause through bold and attention-
grabbing attacks.

Though no group claimed the Lahore attack, there is ample
reason to suspect Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Pakistan's
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) created and nurtured the
Pakistan-based Islamist militant group to pressure India, but
LeT has gradually loosened itself from Islamabad's grip.

The Lahore attack bore a number of similarities to the
November 2008 Mumbai attack and given LeT's primary focus on
India, the IPL tournament would have made another prime
target, it said. PTI LKJ
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