RDX landing to sabotage BJP meet
?
Sandesh Prabhudesai
9 April 2002
High alert has been sounded along the Konkan
coast, fearing landing of RDX in view of sabotaging the
three-day national executive meeting of the ruling Bharatiya
Janata Party being held in Goa from 12 April.
Chief minister Manohar Parrikar today confirmed
the news, stating that the naval authorities, coast guard
as well as the customs officials are patrolling the whole
coastal belt round the clock.
Security arrangements in the tourist state
are expected to be tightened up with prime minister Atal
Bihari Vajpayee arriving here in the afternoon of 12 April,
to leave only on 14 April. Union home minister L K Advani
as well as other central ministers will also attend the
meet.
Reports reaching here from the Konkan region
of Maharashtra indicate that a ship carrying huge amount
of RDX has left Dubai, to reach here before the BJP meet
begins. Quoting sources in the customs, some of the local
newspapers have also reported that the ship is named as
'Ibrahimi'.
The authorities suspect that the RDX may
be landed at one of the rocky beaches along the Konkan coast
in Maharashtra, as it is very close to Goa. Round-the-clock
patrolling 10 kms inside the sea from the coast has thus
begun, monitoring activities of ships in the sea.
While the authorities are reportedly taking
trustworthy fishermen into confidence to alert them about
any ship found to be moving in a suspicious manner in the
sea, the officials have also been monitoring whether any
shipping trawler is stocking more amount of diesel than
required for their routin fishing trips.
Though it is tentatively decided that the
prime minister will be staying put at the Fort Aguada Beach
Resort, the BJP leaders here claim that security personnel
have still not finalised one of three places they have identified.
Though most of the party delegates will
be housed at Hotel Marriott Resort, where the meet will
be held, important party dignitaries including central ministers
however may stay at other places. The security personnel
are also exploring the possibility of moving the PM by helicopter,
avoiding the road routes, as far as possible.
