In response to a request from the state government, the centre has agreed to deploy a National Security Guard (NSG) detachment in Kolkata for contingencies. Additionally, the state government is planning to set up an institute to train its officers in countering urban terrorism. Questions like an impending terror threat in Kolkata, increase in Maoist activity in the state in the wake of Lalgarh, Singur and Nandigram and violent agitation for a separate Gorkhaland in the Darjeeling Hills continue to aggravate the existing sense of vulnerability in the state and particularly in the aftermath of the terror strike in Mumbai.

In a recent press interview, newly formed anti-terrorist squad Special Task Force (STF) chief Rajeev Kumar clearly mentioned that like other metros in the country, Kolkata remains on the radar of terrorists. Last month, the Union Home Minister attended an emergency security meeting in Kolkata after reports of suspected involvement of local operatives in the Mumbai mayhem. It was reported in the media that on 5 December the Kolkata police had arrested two suspected Muslim youths who allegedly procured SIM cards for the terrorists involved in the Mumbai attacks.

It was only in the last month that the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) warned the state government of possible terrorist attacks in strategic locations across the state. The agency stated that a Bangladesh-based militant group, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), along with the outlawed Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), were plotting a major terror strike in the state. Elaborating the actionable intelligence input further, the agency claimed that nearly 24 HuJI militants and 12 cadres of KLO are currently in the state. The coming together of HuJI with KLO is dangerous as the KLO has been waging a separatist war against the state government since 1995 for a separate Kamtapur state comprising six districts of West Bengal namely Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Malda, North and South Dinajpur and four districts of the neighbouring state of Assam, such as Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon and Goalpara.

Infiltration of illegal Bangladeshi nationals has been another major security concern in the state. On 13 December night, the Border Security Force (BSF) fired shots at Bangladeshi infiltrators allegedly attempting to smuggle cattle across the border at Peasbari and Kestopur localities in Malda district. Suspected terrorists from Bangladesh sneak into India often through Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and West Bengal but their onward movement to south, north and western parts of India has to be through West Bengal. In a similar way, the state is also considered an entry point to India's northeasten states as well as South Asian neighbours of Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. Security agencies claim that pumping of fake currency through illegal Bangladeshi and Nepalese in West Bengal has been one of the significant sources of funding for terror groups across India.

The state has not yet witnessed any major terror attack. However, suspected HuJI operatives from Bangladesh in January 2002 had targeted the American Centre building in Kolkata, killing four security guards and injuring at least 14 others. Airports, railway stations, metro stations, bus terminals and other crowded sensitive locations across the state have been on alert. Recently, central government has issued a directive to all states and union territories to secure each of the nearly 340 unused and abandoned airstrips in the country. These include one airstrip located in Panga in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal. The district administration has been directed to monitor and conduct regular checks of the airport to prevent its misuse by terror groups.

The state has recently geared itself to tackle a somewhat new threat for India, namely that of postal terrorism or the parcel bomb. To identify the explosive materials in parcels in post office, the state has started introducing a special code in the parcels. This system has already been introduced in parcels to be transported in Kolkata-New Delhi Rajdhani express train and soon it will be introduced in other trains.

Additionally, an increase in Naxal activities in the forest areas of West Midnapore, Purulia, Bankura and Birbhum and their alleged support to the movements in Lalgarh, Singur and Nandigram has also accentuated security vulnerabilities in the state. There have been reports that in the ongoing Gorkhaland agitation in Siliguri, Dooars and the Darjeeling Hills, Naxalite groups have provided tacit support. The report cannot be rejected completely as in the past senior Naxalite leader and the CPI (ML) general secretary Kanu Sanyal had openly expressed support for Gorkhaland. Tensions are likely to escalate in the Darjeeling hills as clashes are possible between pro-statehood group Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha (GJMM) activists and opponents of statehood, including those from Jana Jagaran Manch (JJM) and Jana Chetana Mancha (JCM). The deteriorating security situation in the state is therefore, a matter of serious concern.