Is Chennai a hub of sleeper cells of terror outfits?

Chennai: Southern metropolis Chennai woke up to a day of blasts on Thursday. Two blasts took place in two separate coaches of the long distance Bangalore-Guwahati Express, which travels via Chennai at 7:30 in the morning. One woman passenger has died in the blasts, while 10 others have been injured and three of them have sustained serious injuries.

Visibly shaken residents of Chennai feel that their city is no longer safe. According to the Intelligence inputs, Chennai has been on the radar of terror outfits for a long time and there are many active sleeper cells of terror groups in the state capital and other parts.

Intelligence agencies have also been issuing periodical alerts on possible terror strikes. Thursday's blast is not entirely unexpected. A couple of weeks ago, the central intelligence had alerted the Tamil Nadu Police to closely monitor passengers flying in from Sri Lanka. It had also sent regular advisories.

A suspected ISI agent was arrested in Chennai two days ago. A 37-year-old man of Sri Lankan nationality, Sakir Hussain, linked to a Pakistani terror outfit, was arrested in a joint operation of the Central and State police forces. He is believed to be a Sri Lankan national and was hired by an ISI official posted at the Pakistani High Commission in Colombo.

According to local reports, the arrest of Hussain and his "explosive confessional statement", sent to the Home Ministry, has sent shock waves among the country's prime anti-terror agencies, police sources said.

Tamil Nadu Police Q branch had nabbed A Tamim Ansari in Trichy when he was on his way to board a flight to Sri Lanka with a bunch of secret Indian naval documents and graphics loaded into compact discs in 2012.

Many Pakistan based terror outfits are allegedly using Colombo as a transit point and they try to enter India via Chennai.

The last major blast in Chennai happened on August 8, 1993 which claimed 11 lives and injured seven persons. The RSS office in Chennai was bombed in that incident. One can't forget that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was also assassinated in the outskirts of Chennai in May 1991.