Naval officials said that based on the alert from the federal intelligence agency, security has been beefed to the maximum along the coastlines in Maharashtra and Gujarat states.
After the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, the Naval Western Command based in Mumbai has been maintaining a sharp vigil along the western coastal line. But after the high alert notification sent out by the federal intelligence agencies, the navy, Coast Guards and the marine wing of the Mumbai police have been placed in a state of full preparedness to counter and foil and attempts by terrorists to penetrate into the country from the western coastal line.
Navy and Coast Guards helicopters are constantly patrolling the Arabian Sea. Similarly implementations of security guidelines are also being strictly followed. Any small or big boats or merchant vessels are prohibited from coming in close proximity of the naval warships and are informed to keep a distance of 200 meters away from the warships. The navy and Coast Guards officials are taking all precautionary and security measures to ensure that there are no lacunae in the security systems.
In another development, the judges of the division bench of the Bombay High Court on Wednesday hearing the petition of the lone Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Amir Qasab in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and his pleading for lesser punishment questioned the defense lawyer Amin Solkar whether awarding life sentence to Qasab would bring down terrorist attacks. "However, we feel that by confirming the death sentence awarded to Qasab, a shocking message would go across the border to the terrorists based in Pakistan," the judges said.
Solkar told the court that instead of confirming Qasab’s death sentence, it would be better to sentence him to life imprisonment; else Qasab would become a martyr in Pakistan and a hero.
Continuing his arguments Solkar further told the court "It's alleged that my client Qasab is a Fidayeen (suicide attacker). And the truth is that Fidyayeens are not scared of death. If Qasab is given death sentence then he would be a sort of martyr for Pakistan. And this would set an example for other terrorists in Pakistan which will only further increase terrorism and this is what Qasab wants. And the court is not taking into consideration as to what repercussions Qasab's death sentence would be in Pakistan," Solkar argued.
The court dismissed the defense plea that Qasab was a minor and not adult and said that such arguments are placed to prolong the proceedings of the case.
