A report, investigating the state’s response to the Mumbai attacks last year, has blamed then Commissioner of Police (CP) Hasan Gafoor of “absence of overt leadership” and “lack of visible command and control at the CP’s office.” Gafoor was heavily criticized by the media and state government, and was transferred from his post two months after the incident.
The Ram Pradhan Committee report tabled in the Maharashtra State Assembly yesterday, said that Gafoor failed to follow the Standard Operating Procedures which required him to be present in the control room. Doing so would have prevented the duplication of efforts and chaos among the different police units fighting on ground, it said. However, the former CP was found to be on scene at the Trident Hotel, one of the sites of the attack.
No other policemen were singled out for lapses or poor performance by the Committee. It praised Director General of Police A N Roy, for making “himself available to provide information and offer[ed] help while taking care not to intrude into the functioning of Mumbai Police officers.” The report also praised the Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria for effectively handling a very serious crisis situation.
In what seem to be contradictory findings, the report noted that there was “total confusion in processing intelligence alerts at the state level“, but “did not find any failure to act on inputs by the central intelligence agencies“. Media reports earlier this month quoted the present CP of Mumbai, D Sivanandan of informing the Ram Pradhan Committee of “systemic loophole [was observed] in the way intelligence from Central agencies is processed at the state level in the DGP’s establishment.” The former State Intelligence Chief reportedly told the committee that in spite of being the central authority on intelligence in the state, central intelligence reports did not come to him directly. He was therefore unaware of “any intelligence alert on terrorism prior to November 26, 2008, even though there were 17 alerts since August 7, 2006, talking about the possibility of sea-borne attacks and of multiple and simultaneous fidayeen attacks.”
The Ram Pradhan Committee report has recommended urgent upgrading and strengthening of the Quick Response Teams formed in 2003. It also provided a blueprint for the reorganization, training, equipment and service conditions.The report calls for a review of the preparedness of other police administrations in the state.
In other related news, Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist captured during the attacks, has claimed that he is being wrongly framed by the Mumbai police. During his final statement to the court, he accused the police of forcing a confession out of him and claiming that he has never held an AK-47. He said that he never underwent any training with the LeT, and that his bullet wounds are from the police firing at him at the police station. Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said that Kasab’s retraction will not affect the case adversely as sufficient evidence and eye-witness accounts against Kasab have been presented before the court. Kasab was caught on camera as he went on a killing spree at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.
