MUMBAI, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Indian security teams are patrolling coastal areas in search of militants with Lashkar-e-Toiba who are suspected of plotting Mumbai attacks, an official said.
New Delhi issued a nationwide alert for attacks that could coincide with New Year's celebrations. Sources told The Times of India that the threat to Mumbai was "very specific."
Similar alerts were raised for coastal states in India, though intelligence sources revealed that security officials had very clear and specific details about suspected terrorists moving in and around Mumbai.
State officials told the news agency that there was a high state of alert "with special focus on coastal areas where terrorists are likely to infiltrate."
Authorities believe most of the targets were checked by David Coleman Headley, a former informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. Headley is in custody in the United States on charges he helped LeT plot 2008 attacks on Mumbai that left hundreds of people dead.
The surviving gunman in the Mumbai attacks told a court in 2009 that he met Headley while in jail after the attacks.
Indian authorities said they didn't have "specific" intelligence on the latest plots but LeT "sleeper cells" were mentioned as possible targets of security probes
