Govt reviews security of US, Israeli diplomats after intelligence warning; Amit Shah chairs high-level meet

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday held a high-level meeting with National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and top officials in the Ministry of Home Affairs on internal security issues.

The meeting was held in view of the ongoing protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 and the recent violence in JNU. During the meeting, the inputs received from the security agencies in the wake of rising tensions between the United States and Iran over the killing of a senior Iranian general were also discussed.

MHA sources said that law and order issues across the country, as well as security matters linked to Jammu and Kashmir, were discussed in the meeting, chaired by Home Minister Shah.

The meeting was called a day after a seven-member inter-faith delegation comprising prominent spiritual leaders and social reformers from different faiths and sects, including Jain Acharya Lokesh, meditation guru Swami Deepankar, Mufti Shamoon Qasmi, Sardar Sant Singh, Veer Chakra Awardee Col TP Tyagi, Vineet Kumar and Gautam, met Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy to express solidarity with the government, saying the law "concerns foreigners and no Indian has anything to fear".

Over 2,000 people have been arrested and around 5,000 detained while protesting against the CAA since the Parliament passed the law on December 11, 2019.

Hundreds of security personnel have also been injured in anti-CAA protests across India, the strongest dissent against Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he came into power in 2014.

The Act provides Indian citizenship to six non-Muslim communities -- Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian -- who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, after facing religious persecution.

The government has clarified that the law has nothing to do with the citizens of India, including Muslims. In the meeting, sources said, intelligence inputs regarding the role of the Popular Front of India (PFI) behind the CAA protests were discussed among other points mentioned.

Meanwhile, the security of American and Israeli diplomats and installations like embassies, offices and other residential areas have been beefed up across the country after inputs were received from security agencies in the wake of rising US-Iran tensions.

According to two communications sent by Intelligence Bureau (IB) on January 4 and 8 to various government agencies, the steps have been taken after the developments pertaining to the attack on US Embassy in Baghdad on December 31, 2019, and the US airstrike which killed senior Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad on January 3.

The intelligence agencies have warned that the threat of retaliation given by the Iranian leadership requires appropriate measures to secure the 'US as well as Israeli diplomatic and trade interests/personnel/installations.'

The IB, keeping Ministry of Home Affairs in the loop, has asked for appropriate measures to secure such locations and installations.

The communication also states that terrorist attacks on the US as well as Israeli installations and personnel as protests, demonstrations and vandalism at such locations cannot be ruled out.

The diplomatic security forces, which are mainly responsible for the safety in Delhi's embassies, have been asked to continue patrolling the region, spread almost eight kilometres.

The local police and extra forces have been deployed at such locations as per the threat perception.

(With Agency Inputs)