Statue of Unity could be target of twin terror strike, security increased

Intelligence inputs about the potential threat of a terror attack on the 182-metre-tall Statue of Unity in Gujarat have led to an increase in security in the surrounding area. Intelligence Bureau (IB) inputs had suggested the world’s tallest statue could be the target of a double blast which would be aimed at bringing the statue down.

The IB input had said the statue, a tribute to India’s first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, Vallabhbhai Patel, could be the target of a twin bombing. As a reaction, the Gujarat state government has increased the security cover to the statue. Police have also increased their patrols in the areas surrounding the site.

The specific alert about the threat to the Statue of Unity is part of the nationwide alert that was issued following the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 paramilitary personnel were killed.

The security cover surrounding the statue was ramped up on a day when Abdul Rasheed Ghazi, the Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist who masterminded the suicide car bomb attack which killed 40 members of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

The Statue of Unity, located on a river island on the Narmada river in Gujarat’s Kevadiya, was inaugurated in October 2018. The statue has at times been alleged to be a facility meant to spy on Pakistan by conspiracy theorists across the border.

The structure rises a mind boggling 240 metres from the ground up. Of this, the statue of Patel is 182 metres, with the rest of the height accounted for by the pedestal the statue stands on. When it was inaugurated, the Statue of Unity dwarfed the 153-metre-tall Spring Temple Buddha in China’s Henan province. The Spring Temple Buddha is 128 metres tall and stands on a building that adds 25 metres to the total height.