Panel raps govt. for Pathankot attack despite prior intelligence
A parliamentary panel has pulled up the government for its failure to prevent the terrorist attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot despite “prior concrete and credible intelligence inputs.”
Saying that “something is seriously wrong” in the country’s counter-terror establishment, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs chaired by Congress MP P. Bhattacharya sought to know what prompted the Government to seek Pakistan’s help and invite a Joint Investigation Team from there.
The committee also observed that the role of the Punjab Police was “questionable and suspicious” during the terrorist attack. The panel said it failed to understand how in spite of the terror alert sounded well in advance, the terrorists managed to breach the high-security airbase and carried out the strike.
Ill-prepared
The committee said credible inputs from former Pathankot SP Salwinder Singh and his friends, who were abducted and then released by the Pakistani terrorists, and intercepts of communication between the terrorists and their handlers, did little to prepare security agencies to anticipate the threat and counter it swiftly and decisively.
During its visit to the airbase, the panel found that there were no roads around the perimeter wall of the strategic airbase and tall shrubs and trees on the premises helped terrorists hide from security forces.
“The committee, during its visit, found that the airbase’s security cover was not robust and it had a poorly guarded perimeter wall,” the report said.
‘Something is seriously wrong in the country’s counter-terror establishment’
Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh, who claimed he was abducted and dumped by terrorists who made off in his SUV Read more
