Three Indian airports on alert

India has declared a security alert at three major airports, including Delhi and the IT hub Bangalore, and added extra checks to vehicles and luggage after warnings from intelligence agencies, officials said yesterday.

Local television showed armed police guarding entrances to Delhi's international airport. Police cordons had also been set up outside the airport in the southern industrial city of Chennai. The heightened security comes days after the militant attacks in Mumbai that killed 171 people.

The anniversary of the 1992 demolition of a 16th century mosque by Hindu groups in the northern town of Ayodhya is also marked on Dec 6, officials said, an event which sparked violence between Hindus and Muslims.