MUMBAI, India — In the past year, India has deployed rapid-strike law enforcement officers in four cities and purchased night-scope equipment.
Mumbai police increased the weapons and vehicles at local police stations and created specially trained early-response units.
Constable Dhananjay Srirang said he checks the identity cards of fisherman and boaters in the port, a new procedure, and B. Raman, director at Chenai’s Institute for Topical Studies, said intelligence links with the U.S. have been strengthened.
The changes, geared toward fostering a sense of safety, came in response to terrorist attacks in Mumbai one year ago that left 166 people dead and dozens injured in various locations, including the city’s luxury Taj Palace and Tower Hotel and a Jewish travelers’ center, where hostage dramas played out for days. The incident began Nov. 26, 2008.
But many observers say the changes fall short of providing protection from terrorists, militants or other dangers, some even insisting that new safety measures have done nothing to protect Mumbai, a global financial capital.
“The only reason we haven’t been attacked is that the Taliban and al-Qaeda are too busy looking at Pakistan to look here,” said Y.P. Singh, an analyst and former Indian Police Service member. “Ultimately, it’s only because they have their hands full.”
Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who has made security a priority, said recently that India remains just as vulnerable.
The targeting of foreigners and civilians has put Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant Pakistani Islamist group that has besieged India, on the international map.
But it ultimately has strengthened U.S.-Indian intelligence ties and turned Mumbai into a case study for the New York Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other security agencies. That cooperation included charges Wednesday in Pakistan against seven men accused of masterminding and overseeing last year’s attacks.
Behind closed doors at a counterterrorism court in Islamabad, charges were read against the two alleged masterminds — Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Zarrar Shah — and five others, according to lawyers for the defense.
The trial could begin Dec. 5.
The accused have been reported to be members of Lashkar-e-Taiba.
McClatchy Newspapers contributed to this report.
