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NEW DELHI India will impose a security clampdown in New Delhi for the Hockey World Cup next week as it test-runs counter-terror measures ahead of the Commonwealth Games in October, officials said Monday.
Home Secretary G.K. Pillai said Delhi police and paramilitary forces will provide the bulk of the security presence, with armed commando escorts for the teams as they travel to and from the national stadium.
“The World Cup hockey is a test case for the Commonwealth Games,” Pillai told a press briefing for foreign journalists in the Indian capital.
Concerns over security at the hockey tournament and the Games were fuelled by a bomb blast last week in the western city of Pune that killed 15 people.
It was the first major attack on Indian soil since the 2008 Mumbai assault by Islamist gunmen that left 166 dead.
Special police commissioner Neeraj Kumar, who attended the briefing, said airspace above the national stadium would be patrolled by the Indian Air Force with other armed assault teams circling the venue in helicopters.
The stadium in central Delhi has already been sealed off to the public and is dotted with surveillance cameras, explosives detectors and sniffer dog teams.
Although Pillai stressed there had been no “credible threat” to the hockey World Cup, Kumar said contingency plans were in place in case of a chemical or biological attack.
The 12-nation tournament begins on Monday and runs for two weeks.
The Commonwealth Games, the biggest sporting event in India since the Asian Games in 1982, will be held in New Delhi from October 3-14.
“For the Commonwealth Games, we will have a complete lockdown of venues, hotel and roads used by the participants a week in advance,” added city police chief Y.S. Dadwal said at the briefing.
Dadwal said a part of his 97,000-strong police force will form the backbone for the security for the upcoming sporting events.
Last Tuesday, the Hong Kong-based Asia Times Online news website said it had received a warning from Al-Qaeda-linked militant Ilyas Kashmiri about attacking sports events in India.
The Pakistan-based extremist reportedly warned competitors against going to the hockey World Cup, the Indian Premier League cricket tournament in March and the October Games.
The latest threat led New Zealand officials to delay the hockey teams departure for India until a security update had been received.
Australia and England said they still planned to attend.
Hockey India, which is organising the World Cup in New Delhi, said no team has threatened to pull out of the World Cup.
Any pullout or disruption for India would be blow as it gears up to host the Games, the biggest sporting event on Indian soil since the Asian Games in 1982.
Organisers hope that a successful competition could open the way to an Olympics bid, though preparations have been marked by severe delays.
Last August, Englands badminton team angered Indian sports officials by pulling out of the World Championship, saying security in the host city of Hyderabad was lax. The event passed without incident.
