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Gujarat is once again in turmoil these days following the communal violence; there have been a series of bomb blasts in the State’s commercial capital, Ahmedabad. With fresh intrusions taking place, the State government has come under severe threat with terrorists planning more bomb blasts and a bigger one similar to that what happened in Mumbai in 1993. At the same time, it is worried, as the State could be a direct target for its petrochemical, chemical units and major ports, if the India-Pakistan full-scale war begins.

A day after Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf addressed his people on his national television, the whole of Ahmedabad city was rocked by three powerful bomb blasts planted in the city’s municipal buses on May 29. There was panic and fear amongst the residents of Ahmedabad who blamed the minority community for carrying out reprisals for which the latter suffered during the communal violence that took place earlier. Later, the Gujarat government stated that it was the ‘handiwork of terrorists.’

For the State Government, controlling the communal violence was in itself a tough task. "But now with more bomb blast threats being issued, the State Government has to carry its responsibility and not keep quiet and watch," the officials added.

The State Government, meanwhile, has called upon all State police teams to conduct surprise raids and nab criminals found carrying out anti-national activities. The timing of Punjab’s retired IPS officer K P S Gill coming to Gujarat a month ago was seen as a welcome step not amongst just the politicians but by the bureaucrats and the citizens. Since the day he began his operations, Gill managed to control the violence and bring back normalcy in the State. He, along with city police and State teams, arrested a number of people who were involved in the communal flare-up.

With one feather in his cap, the veteran is now seen to be involved in nabbing those who want to plant more bombs and disturb the law and order situation in the State.

It is not only quelting tougher for the police teams in Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad and other districts of the State but the job is pretty much the same for the Border Security Force (BSF) personnel and the Army who are guarding the 500-km Kutch border segmrnt of the international border with Pakistan. There have been a number of intrusions that in May alone with people crossing from Pakistan to Kutch and vice versa.

According to Kutch police officials, there have been a dozen so far. A Bangladeshi by the name of Alamgir Musharraf Ali from Malger village in Chittagong district was caught by the border police from near the Haji Pir dargah and then handed over to the Kutch police on May 2. A 32-year-old Assamese from Nalbari district was nabbed while trying to cross into Pakistan from Kutch. This man was caught red-handed on May 9.

On May 8, a Pakistani youth, Ramji Dayaram, aged 29 years, who hailed from Nagarparkar area of Mithi province in Pakistan was caught while crossing over to India in Kutch. Besides, there was one particular incident when the border police caught one Pakistani infiltrator aged around 40 years while crossing into India. This man has not opened his mouth yet except to eat and has not revealed any information about himself and his people. Officials investigating his case said, "the intruder’s reactions are very normal and he does not apparently look insane."

This is not the first of its kind in May as there was a woman caught at the same time while straying acress the Indo-Pak border in Banaskantha district. The woman claimed to be a Bangladeshi but after several hours of interrogation, the BSF personnel said she was a Pakistani who pretended to be deaf and dumb. Meanwhile, with all these intrusions taking place, a state of high alert has been maintained on the Kutch border in view of the present tense situation. Intensified air surveillance too is being carried out.

With war clouds between Indians and Pakistan hovering, both defence and civilian forces in Kutch have intensified their vigil. The Army, which has its defence brigade headquarters at Bhuj, has practically shifted to the Rann of Kutch. Highly placed sources in the security forces said that they are in full preparedness and waiting for orders from the government. Meanwhile, in the Sir Creek areas of Kutch, which are considered, hit spots during the war and are prone to maximum infiltration, patrolling by the Army, Navy and Air Force has intensified. Similarly, operations are also being conducted in the Saurashtra region with the Coast Guard having operational command at all three stations - Porbandar, Vadinar and Okha.