Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia and its impact on energy supplies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday warned of possible attempts by “certain elements” to exploit the situation to endanger India’s internal security. He, however, assured that the security and law-and-order agencies were already in a state of high alert to detect and avert such designs.Drawing the attention of the Rajya Sabha to the internal security dimension of the West Asia crisis, Modi informed the members that security across all domains in the country — coastal, border, cyber and strategic installations — is being further strengthened.“Whether it is coastal security, border security, cyber security, or strategic installations, the security of all is being reinforced,” he said while briefing the House on the developments in West Asia.The home ministry had last week advised all states and Union territories to protect the LPG supply chain by ramping up security of the concerned infrastructure and personnel, monitor LPG supplies on a daily basis and bust rumours in real time to avoid any panic.Sources told TOI that all states/UTs were advised to take strict action against hoarding and black marketing of LPG/gas supplies and undertake awareness drives to allay fears and counter rumours regarding LPG shortage.The states/UTs, said sources, were nudged to closely monitor social media platforms and take prompt action to remove fake news and false narratives about an alleged LPG shortage by circulating old or unrelated material.Incidentally, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has lately detected a cyber scam wherein fraudsters are sending out fake “gas booking updates” APK files via WhatsApp. Installing these files can hack one’s phone and drain their bank account instantly, the I4C warned while instructing LPG subscribers to stick to official booking applications.
