MUMBAI: A two-member committee that was set up to investigate alleged police lapses and government response to the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last November patted the back of the police and the Maharashtra government stating that no police force could have done better.
However, the panel head, former state Chief Secretary Ram Pradhan, who handed the report to state Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Wednesday reiterated that there was a lapse in coordination between various intelligence agencies.
The over 100 pages report titled prepared by retired IAS officer R.G. Pradhan and former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) deputy chief V. Balachandran observed that Maharashtra had not received direct information from intelligence agencies about any attack on Mumbai.
The panel said that there was no failure on part of the government in not being able to prevent the attack and praised the police for their commendable role during a war-like situation.
The report pointed out the apology offered by federal Home Minister P. Chidambaram to the people of Mumbai for the failure of the federal intelligence agencies to predict the terror attack, and said that the apology was enough to absolve the state government of any blame.
Speaking to journalists after presenting the report to the chief minister, Pradhan said that there was no specific and direct input to the state government and hence it cannot be called the state’s failure.
“The Mumbai police role during the attacks was commendable.
Many young officers lost their lives while several others were injured while fighting the terrorists and hence we appreciated their work. We have suggested measures to be taken to deal with such crisis in future. The government has already taken some measures in this direction,” Meanwhile, Vinita Kamte, widow of Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte who was killed in the terrorist attack, criticized the panel findings saying that she was disappointed with it.
Reacting to the report, Vinita told journalists that there existed several serious lapses and discrepancies on the part of the senior police officers.
She also stated that though she wanted to depose before the panel and highlight the lapses of the police officers, she was not granted permission to do so, as the panel said that it did not have powers to interview the victims’ kin.
