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ShareMumbai: It's official. The "leaked" report of the RD Pradhan committee, which probed the lapses in the state's response to the 26/11 terror attacks, is the "real thing".
A few days ago, chief minister Ashok Chavan had said that the "real" report would be different from the various extracts appearing in the media. But, on Monday, home minister RR Patil admitted that the report had indeed been leaked a few weeks ago. What had appeared in the media was part of the report submitted by the Pradhan committee in May 2009. Chavan, too, sang a different tune. With denials no longer possible, he said the copy was not leaked by any of the official custodians.
The report, which was tabled in the state assembly on Monday, concludes that the Mumbai police leadership failed on the day of the attacks. There was also a complete failure to collate various intelligence reports in the run-up to 26/11. The report calls for a complete overhaul of the system with a nodal officer being made responsible for the exchange of information between state and central intelligence agencies.
As first reported in DNA on June 8, 2009, Pradhan has come down heavily on the then Mumbai police chief Hasan Gafoor, who has been criticised for stationing himself at the Trident on the day of the attacks instead of being at the command centre (the police headquarters). The standard operating procedure, which had been agreed to only a week before the attacks, was not implemented.
The opposition bayed for blood over the premature leak of the report. Said opposition leader Eknath Khadse: "Chief minister Chavan, the then home minister Jayant Patil, the then chief secretary Johny Joseph and the additional chief secretary (home) Chandra Iyengar were the only custodians of the report, and the leak was initiated by one of the custodians. Since all these personalities are in top positions and powerful, none other than CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) should probe the matter."
Patil, however, rejected the demand for a CBI inquiry but promised a thorough probe. The opposition MLAs walked out in protest. Patil claimed that many officials were involved in accessing the report, and it would not be fair to blame the custodians alone for the leak.
The home minister said the government had delayed releasing the report as it did not want the contents used in the ongoing Kasab trial. "After the public prosecutor ensured that the relevant part of the trial was over, we tabled the report," Patil said.
The government has appointed a 16-member committee, including opposition leaders and members from both the houses, to discuss the findings and recommendations of the Pradhan committee and decide on the steps to be taken to strengthen security in the state.
Pradhan's report warns of the possibility of more spectacular attacks in the future, including airborne ones. It has asked the government to take care to ensure that such attacks are pre-empted and preventive measures are in place.
