In the report, the NSG noted that not only do major cities continue to remain under high alert, smaller towns and districts, which are conventionally considered at lower-risk, have also experienced a concerning rise in attempts and successful detonations involving crude IEDs.

The officials said commonly available chemicals and electrical components can be used to make build IEDs, enabling even untrained individuals to assemble low-grade but highly sophisticated explosive devices.

The officials also noted the role of online dissemination of harmful content, saying that while many devices recovered were rudimentary, the intent behind their assembly poses a growing security concern and without tighter controls, the country may continue to see sporadic IED incidents in areas previously considered secure.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had announced that a new NSG hub would be established in Ayodhya, expanding the elite force’s reach to six major hubs across the country including Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Jammu. He emphasised that NSG commandos would remain deployed round the clock, ensuring rapid response to any terror threat.