The defence ministry and the Coast Guard officials, during an 'exit conference' with the CAG, are understood to have admitted that there were some lapses, particularly in patrolling, on the part of the maritime force due to which it failed to prevent the attack.
The role of Coast Guard in failing to prevent the 26/11 attacks has come in for scrutiny of the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) which is believed to have expressed its unhappiness over the force being unable to detect and prevent 10 armed Pakistani terrorists from sneaking into Mumbai.
The defence ministry and the Coast Guard officials, during an 'exit conference' with the CAG, are understood to have admitted that there were some lapses, particularly in patrolling, on the part of the maritime force due to which it failed to prevent the attack, government sources said.
In a performance audit of the Coast Guard, the CAG has extensively dealt with the role of the maritime force at the time of the terror attacks on November 26, 2008 when the Pakistani terrorists struck in Mumbai for 60 hours, killing over 160 people.
"The Coast Guard officials have accepted that there has been a mistake on their part," a source said.
An 'exit conference' is usually conducted when the audit exercise is complete and the CAG officials discuss their findings and recommendation with the auditee.
Besides the 2008 attacks issue, the CAG audit has examined the overall performance of the Indian Coast Guard. The report is expected to be tabled in Parliament during the next session.
After the attacks, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) had sanctioned 40 ships, 20 boats and 42 aircraft in February 2009.
For an effective surveillance, the government has also sanctioned a Coast Guard plan to deploy radars, cameras and sensors atop all light-houses in coastal areas to detect and identify ships close to shores in a two-phased project.
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