Indian security guards have been put on alert for a possible Muslim militant strike on the country's largest oil field, the Statesman newspaper reported Saturday.
Police investigating an assault by Lashkar-e-Taiba Kashmiri separatist militants in the heart of New Delhi's Red Fort last month said they had been tipped off that the rebels were actively thinking of attacking the Bombay High field on the western coast.
The Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba Islamic group took responsibility for the December 22 attack on the historic Red Fort in which three people were killed.
"Besides targetting vital installations such as telecommunication networks, it has come to light that the Lashkar-e-Taiba is eyeing the ONGC's (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) oil drills near Bombay," a police official was quoted as saying by the Statesman.
Indian Navy, which looks after the security of the Bombay High oil field, said they had increased the patrolling.
"The job is to check boats and trawlers around for suspicion and maintain constant patrolling. If we perceive the threat to be greater, then Dornier planes with sophisticated sensors are deployed," a naval official said.
Bombay High oil field accounts for nearly 40 percent of the country's crude oil production -- NEW DELHI (AFP)
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