Ground-level intelligence network needed: 26/11 panel chief

He said that terror attacks on Mumbai are inevitable and the way terrorism is being exported from neighouring countries,it should be assumed that Delhi and Mumbai will always be the prime targets (for such attacks). “We should not forget that,” he said.

Pradhan,former Governor and V Balachandran,a retired IPS officer,were asked by the Maharashtra Government to probe the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks to find what went wrong with the police and the administrative response. “It has been over a year since we submitted the report to the government,but no one (from government) has bothered to discuss it with us,” he added.

“Somebody asked me why Mumbai was attacked. It is quite obvious. Because Mumbai is an international city. The motive of terrorists is to make maximum impact. Going by the reaction on TV,there is unrest among people,Pradhan said.

“There is a feeling that the government has not learnt anything (from 26/11 attacks),” he said. The basic job of the Home Department is to protect life and property,he added.

“The panel had come to the conclusion that unless there was help from local people,such an attack (like 26/11) on Mumbai was impossible,” Pradhan said.

“I have seen terrorism in Punjab,in Assam and Tamil Nadu. I feel there should be a perception (of the terror threat)… If you close your windows and doors,how will you come to know what is happening outside,” he said.

Pradhan described the state of affairs in the security apparatus while preparing the report. “During a visit to the anti terrorism squad (ATS) office,we found that the monitoring room at ATS was smaller than our bathroom. That was the place where the first inputs of 26/11 attacks came. When I sat in that room,there was not even one and a half feet space in front of the monitor,where one person could sit. There were four such monitors. How could one person handle them?”

The former bureaucrat said,”(In our report),we could have criticised concerned officials,but we did not,because we realised that the failure was that of the system.”

“We lauded the bravery of young IPS officer Vishwas Nangre Patil,who showed exemplary courage in acting on his own (during the Taj siege),” he said.

Pradhan said he had a good rapport with Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and would be available for consultation for the state government.