By IANS,
New Delhi : Indian Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta Monday met Defence Minister A.K. Antony to take stock of the situation in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks that killed 183 and ended only after a 61-hour operation by the security forces.
“The defence minister, at a meeting today (Monday) with the navy chief, assessed the situation after the Mumbai attacks and the navy’s preparedness to tackle it,” a defence official said, without divulging any other details.
The Indian Navy, along with the Coast Guard, has come under fire for their alleged security lapses as the perpetrators of the attack had reached Indian territorial waters in a merchant vessel from Karachi and landed at a south Mumbai in rubber boats.
Unconfirmed reports quoting intelligence sources have said that an input had been given to the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard Nov 18 about explosives set to be smuggled into Mumbai through the sea route. Navy officials stoutly denied receiving any such inputs.
Vice Admiral Anil Chopra, who Sunday took over as the new director general of the Coast Guard from Vice Admiral R.F. Contractor, is yet to brief the defence minister on the situation.
Antony had Sunday offered his resignation during a meeting of the Congress Working Committee in view of the alleged security lapses on the part of the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard. However, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh refused to accept this.