NAGPUR: The two-member Ram Pradhan Committee’s report on November 2008 terror attack in Mumbai was tabled in the Maharashtra Assembly on Monday.
A 16-member committee has been formed under the chairmanship of State Chief Minister Ashok Chavan to discuss the report. This committee includes legislators from both the Assembly and the Council.
While tabling the report, State Home Minister R.R. Patil informed the House that an inquiry would be held as to how the panel report was leaked to the media. There were violent protests from the Opposition parties, which called on the government to hold an inquiry into the leakage by the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI).
The leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Eknath Khadse of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleged that the confidential panel report was leaked by the chief minister, the home minister, the chief secretary and the additional chief secretary (home). Demanding a CBI inquiry, the Opposition legislators walked out of the Assembly in protest.
In a related development, Vilasrao Deshmukh, former State Chief Minister and presently Federal Minister for Heavy Industries, set the cat among pigeons by demanding on Monday that action must be taken against police officers who were guilty of derelictions of duty during the Mumbai terror attacks. Deshmukh’s comment was targeted at the four senior IPS officers who the former Mumbai police chief and presently state director general of police (housing), Hassan Gafoor, had mentioned in an interview.
Vinita Kamte, wife of slain Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte, had also alleged and targeted Joint Commissioner of Police Rakesh Maria and Additional Commissioner of Police Deven Bharti in her book “To the last bullet” chronicling the findings of her husband’s death and holding Maria and Bharti responsible for her husband’s death.
Deshmukh had to lose his chief minister’s post and resign in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks. An inquiry was also carried out into the role of politicians during the terror attacks. Some of them had to resign, including Deshmukh and his deputy R.R. Patil of the NCP.
“Only the politicians should not be held responsible for the terror attacks, but the role of senior police officials and bureaucrats should also be investigated and action should be taken against them,” said Deshmukh.
