No official communication on ISIS plot to attack Goa: Police

Even as media reports claimed that the suspected ISIS members arrested in the recent nationwide NIA crackdown had revealed their plot to attack Goa, the state police today said they were yet to receive any formal communication in this regard.

"We did not get any official communication on it," Goa's Inspector General of Police (IGP)V Renganathan said today.

The media reports suggested that two ISIS terrorists arrested in Hyderbad had confessed to plans on targeting Goa.

"We read it in media (reports) and we are following the lead in our own informal manner. We got information through sources that ISIS had conducted a reece in the state. We can't comment anything right now as we are investigating all the possibilities," a senior police official said on the condition of anonymity.

The NIA and other central security agencies arrested 14 people last week for allegedly planning to carry out attacks in the country ahead of Republic Day.

The arrests were made following simultaneous searches and raids at 12 locations in six cities--Bengaluru, Tumkur, Mangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Lucknow on January 22 with the support of local police.

Fourteen people, aged between 20 and 53 years, were picked up after they had purchased explosive material and electronic circuits used for fabricating Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), acid, nuts and bolts that are used as splinters in bombs, sources said.

Meanwhile, the Goa Police's Anti Terrorist Squad is still probing a letter purportedly written by the ISIS threatening to harm Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

The letter, dated January 13, was addressed to the Goa Secretariat at Porvorim following which police has increased the security around the state.

In view of the threat, Parrikar has been suggested to take Z-plus security during his presence in the state.

The Defence Minister is often seen going around without any security during his appointments in his home state.