Mumbai–Police launched a manhunt in India's financial and entertainment capital Friday for four alleged Pakistani militants authorities believe entered Mumbai to carry out a terrorist attack, a top police official said.
Police have received credible information that at least four men belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group have entered the city and were planning to strike during the holiday season, said Himanshu Roy, joint police commissioner of Mumbai Police.
Police have set up checkpoints along major roads in the city, put additional men on patrol duty at public places and released computer photographs of the four suspects.
"The four men are planning violent attacks that are going to cause destruction," Roy said.
Indian authorities blame the Lashkar-e-Taiba for a deadly three-day terror attack in Mumbai in November 2008 in which 166 people were killed.
"The four have recently arrived in Mumbai. We believe the threat is serious," Roy said.
Roads were also closed Friday near the Taj Mahal hotel and Mumbai's iconic landmark Gateway of India. However, traffic was normal and people went about their normal activities in the rest of the city. Mumbai is also home to Bollywood, India's prolific film industry.
India has called on Pakistan to crack down on terrorists thought to be operating from their soil. Lashkar-e-Taiba is banned by Pakistan's government but it still thought to have support in Pakistan's powerful military and intelligence community.
In the 2008 attack, several gunmen laid siege to the Taj Mahal hotel, another luxury hotel, a Jewish center, a popular restaurant and Mumbai's crowded main train station. The lone surviving gunman was captured and earlier this year sentenced to death.
