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NEW DELHI, Jan 25: The Indian capital was turned into a veritable fortress on Friday ahead of the nation’s annual Jan 26 Republic Day military parade, with army and paramilitary sharpshooters taking up positions over strategic buildings and citizens told not to venture out if they did not possess valid identity papers, lest they be mistaken for potential terrorists.

Indian intelligence officials said the security arrangement was heightened following credible reports that about a dozen militants of the banned Jaish-i-Mohammed and Lashkar-i-Taiba militant groups had slipped into New Delhi with assorted arms and large quantities of explosives, ostensibly to carry out attacks on this inviting day for them.

“It is better that when the parade is in progress, anyone who steps out of their homes carries some kind of an identity card,” warned Delhi Police chief Ajai Raj Sharma, in a rare confirmation of the serious nature of the alert. The route of the parade itself was changed and would be cut short by three kilometers, Sharma said.

Government offices were cleared by lunchtime on Friday and most other establishments surrounding the parade route were made to close business early to enable security personnel to take over the premises, unheard of since the celebrations began decades ago to mark the adoption of the Indian constitution by parliament on Jan 26 in 1950.

There were reports that the militants who had apparently slipped into the Indian capital to carry out attacks were lodged in some as yet unidentified safe-houses near Jama Masjid, the predominantly Muslim quarter of Old Delhi.

Helicopters would keep a close vigil on the flanks of the parade and beyond, which begins from the British-built Presidential Palace and moves past the India Gate memorial to wind up at the Mughal-built Red Fort. Its chief patron President K.R. Narayanan and his guest — the Mauritius president, this year — would be flanked by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and almost all his senior cabinet colleagues.

While many residents of Delhi were on edge over the looming terror of militant attacks, millions of residents in the state of Gujarat were preparing to mark the day with something even more devastating to recall — the 6.9 earthquake that flattened towns and villages and left 30,000 dead.

“Over the years, the parade has become a security hazard with militants seeing it as an occasion to strike and grab newspaper headlines. This year we are on our toes,” a security officer told reporters.

“Close monitoring has been mounted on the city’s nine entry and exit points. Surprise checks are being carried out at hotels and guest-houses in areas where militants could possibly take shelter,” the officer said.

The security drill brought back images of Human Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, th