July 19: A central intelligence agency has warned the state home department that three militants have crossed the border and entered Siliguri.

The alert, which comes a week after Mumbai was rocked by triple explosions, said while two of the militants are from Bangladesh, one is from Pakistan.

The warning was issued by the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau on July 17 after a tip- off from the Border Security Force.

“The report says three people, Shaukat Hussain from Pakistan, and Habib Khan and Ghulam Rasul Miyan from Bangladesh had sneaked into the Indian territory in the second week of July. They have already done a reconnaissance in parts of the Siliguri sector,” said an intelligence officer.

The intelligence agencies, however, have not mentioned anything about the insurg ent groups to which these men belong.

“Places like New Jalpaiguri railway station, Tenzing Norgay bus terminus and the Mahananda Bridge have been mentioned as the probable targets,” the officer said, quoting the report.

The warning follows an earlier information that said militants belonging to different outfits, including those based in the Northeast, are trying to create tension in the region by planning acts of sabotage and bomb explosions.

The last alert that was sounded in north Bengal was almost a fortnight ago when director general (railways) Dilip Mitra said there was apprehension of insurgents belonging to the National Democratic Front of Bodoland triggering explosions at the NJP station.

“We had received a general alert ahead of the chief minister’s visit. The alert had said some persons had entered the region and might try to carry out sabotage in the district in her presence. Since then we had beefed up security and are had been taking all necessary steps,” said D.P Singh, the superintendent of police of Darjeeling.