India celebrates its 66th Independence Day amid tight security

Security has been stepped up in state capitals and key installations on Independence Day eve to thwart any terror strike, with an elaborate ground-to-air vigil being maintained in Delhi where the Prime Minister will unfurl the tricolour at the Red Fort on Wednesday.

With insurgents outfits and Maoists calling for a boycott of celebrations, tens of thousands of police and paramilitary forces have been deployed and patrolling intensified in the North-eastern states and those hit by Left wing violence, including Chhattisgarh.

In Jammu and Kashmir, security measures have been intensified across the Valley following stepped up militant attacks over the past week, with police and other security forces resuming random frisking of pedestrians and searching of vehicles....