By IANS,
New Delhi : The “blame game” among various security agencies in the aftermath of the Mumbai terrorist attack only reinforces the vulnerability of India’s security, the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said here Wednesday.
“What is shocking is the revelation that, ahead of the prime minister’s visit, the personnel of the Special Protection Group (SPG) had gone to secure the Oberoi hotel in Mumbai on the very day of the attack,” BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a statement.
“The SPG themselves were not aware of any intelligence input about any terrorist attack,” he added.
This was in spite of a media report that the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), India’s external intelligence agency, had four intercepts in between September to November about a likely terrorist attack on various hotels facing the sea in Mumbai, Prasad said.
“If this is the level of criminal negligence even in matters concerning the security of the prime minister, then very serious questions arise as to who is in command of the country.”
He also referred to navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta’s statement that the navy did not receive any “actionable intelligence” from the R&AW and that “systemic failure at all levels” had led to the terrorist attack.
“Even Mumbai Police Commissioner Hasan Gafoor said that they had not received ‘any specific intelligence’ of the attack. What kind of management of our internal security is this? Who is speaking the truth?” he asked.