Centre alerts major airports after blasts in Brussels

The Centre today issued an alert to heighten security at major airports and metro networks across the country in the wake of multiple blasts in Brussels that claimed several lives. In a communication, the central government asked the state governments and security agencies, including CISF, to beef up security at airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata. Instructions have also been given to tighten security in metro networks in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Bengaluru, official sources said. Almost all airports in the country and the Delhi Metro are guarded by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), other metro networks are protected by respective state police forces. The central communication was issued after a series of apparently coordinated explosions ripped through Brussels airport and a city metro station, killing at least 26 people in the latest attacks to target Europe.