Centre preparing security of four major sports events in 2010

The Centre is gearing up all its men and machines to provide foolproof security to four major sporting events to be held in India this
year amid reports that terrorist groups are sharpening their claws to strike the country.

The national capital will be hosting three major international events, including the Commonwealth Games, while Indian Premier League will spread across different parts of the country.

"It will be a big challenge for us to make the events incident-free. We are leaving no stone unturned and preparing in advance," a Home Ministry official said.

The Hockey World Cup will see participation by 10 countries and around 400 players and delegates. It will be held here between February 28 and March 13.

The Commonwealth Shooting Championship will be held between February 17 and 28 in which 1,000 athletes and officials from 30 countries will try their luck.

"There have been questions from the participating nations regarding security and we allayed all their fears and assured that that there will be no compromise on the security of the guests," the official said.

The security establishment is particularly concerned over the IPL cricket matches, to be held between March 13 and April 25, and Commonwealth Games - to be held between October 3 and 14.

The IPL matches are huge congregation of international cricket stars, Bollywood personalities, huge crowd, media and spectators making them sitting duck for the terrorists.

The case is similar for the Commonwealth Games where 9,000 athletes from 71 countries besides 100,000 international spectators will pour in the national capital from different parts of the country.

Though Home Secretary G K Pillai had said that there was no specific threat to the Games, he assured the participating nations that the Indian security establishment was fully capable to provide all types of safety.

A three-tier security ring will be thrown across each of the 13 competition venues for the Commonwealth Games and special attention was being given to prevent "Lahore-type" attacks on the athletes who will be taken from the Games Village to the venues in dedicated lanes with helicopters providing air surveillance.

In Pakistan, militants attacked Sri Lankan cricketers at Lahore during their tour of the country on March 3, 2009.

To ensure fleet security, each of the 574 vehicles used for ferrying athletes across the city, will have to undergo a mandatory anti-sabotage clearance every morning before athletes board it.

According to the latest intelligence report, Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba has acquired more than 50 para-gliding equipment from Europe, setting off alarm bells in the government that these could be used to carry out air-borne suicide attacks in the country.

"We hope that the events will pass off peacefully," the official added.