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The petroleum industry, which oils the wheels of the country’s economy, is in the crosshairs of terrorists.

A recent input provided by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) pinpoints a terror threat from Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) to two of the biggest oil refineries in India - the Reliance Industries Limited plant at Jamnagar in Gujarat, and the Bathinda-based newly commissioned unit in Punjab which is a joint venture between Mittal Energy Limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL).

While general intelligence alerts about likely terror strikes on such installations have emanated on several occasions in the past, this is the first threat that specifically mentions the impending targets by name. Security agencies confirmed to Mail Today on Monday that the IB had written to Petroleum Minister Jaipal Reddy in this regard.

The confidential communication, to which Mail Today has access, stated: "Oil industries (including refineries and pipelines) in India continue to be high on the agenda of LeT. Their operatives are learnt to be collecting information on installations in the oil sector, including the RIL refinery in Jamnagar and installations in the vicinity of Amritsar, Bathinda and other places."

Asserting that this was a precise piece of information, a top Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) official disclosed to Mail Today that a nearly 250-member commando unit of the outfit posted at the Jamnagar refinery had been put on high alert. The state police forces of Gujarat and Punjab have also been instructed to step up vigil at both sites.

RIL has set up two adjacent oil refineries at Jamnagar with a massive capacity of processing 62 million tons of crude a year, which is among the largest in the world. CISF provides perimeter security to the Jamnagar refinery from the side of the Arabian Sea as well as from the city. The unit is the only private refinery in the country where the force’s personnel are deployed.

The precautionary move was prompted by the 26/11 Mumbai terror strike in 2008 . Pakistani-American LeT operative David Coleman Headley had also disclosed to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) that the group planned to infiltrate terrorists through Gujarat from the sea route and a key refinery in the coastal state was a potential target.

Located bang on the west coast, this refinery has, in fact, been on the Pakistani terrorists’ radar since 2007. According to security agencies, its proximity to the Gulf of Kutch makes the refinery a terror target from the sea as well as the air.

The CISF commandos have been positioned here from October 2010 onwards in response to a request from Reliance. The force’s security detail at the site includes quick reaction teams (QRTs).

The Rs.20,472-crore Guru Gobind Singh Refinery at Bathinda is a brand new plant that was fully commissioned and started commercial production of petrol, diesel, jet fuel and LPG as recently as March 29. It is a collaborative venture between public sector undertaking HPCL and steel magnate Laxmi Mittal’s company.

The 9-milliontonne-a-year refinery aims to bridge the large demandsupply mismatch of petroleum products faced in the northern region of the country. It is equipped to meet the needs of the defence forces, too. The proximity of this refinery to the Pakistan border in Punjab and its economic worth as a publicprivate enterprise has aroused the interest of terrorists in it.

The IB report points out that the terror threat to the two key oil refineries is part of LeT’s larger game plan to target key economic institutions and symbols in India, including atomic plants.

"These intercepts, received at regular intervals over the last few years, are being taken seriously. The security agencies have been on alert all along," a source said.

Since July 2011, commandos of the National Security Guard (NSG) have been conducting drills by touching down at critical installations aboard specially hired civilian aircraft to gauge their reaction time. Among the sites the NSG has covered are the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) project in Visakhapatnam, which it accesses from its regional hub in Hyderabad, and the Reliance Jamnagar refinery that the security agency reaches from its new set-up in Mumbai.

Last year, the Union home ministry had sounded a nationwide alert after receiving inputs that LeT was looking to target World Cup cricket matches in India and vital oil installations along the coastline. This information came from the US, which also shared it with Pakistan and directed the latter to act against the plotters.

Way back in May 2006, the petroleum ministry had written to public sector oil companies, cautioning them against the designs of undercover operatives from the Pakistani High Commission on the scout for economic intelligence.

While tracking the Pakistani operatives through telephone calls, the IB had found that efforts were being made to assimilate details about the functioning of oil companies, the quality and quantity of fuel being produced and the firms’ future plans.