Porous airbase security worries Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi posed some tough questions to the security establishment, particularly the Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel, during his visit to the Pathankot airbase on Saturday, days after six terrorists were neutralised there in a fierce gun battle, which lasted over 80 hours.

Mr. Modi, accompanied by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, was reportedly disturbed by the lax security apparatus at the defence installation, a senior government official told The Hindu.

The IAF personnel admitted to the lapse in security, the official claimed. Though none of the assets like fighter jets could be targeted by the terrorists, the fact that they were parked at a five-minute walk, from the point where the attackers entered the airbase was a cause for concern for the Prime Minister, the official said.

As reported by The Hindu earlier, the terrorists entered the airbase early morning on January 1 itself, much before the alert was sounded. They climbed a tree, snipped the barbed wire along the perimeter wall and hid among the shrubs on the premises, according to the analysis of the tower location of the snatched mobile phones of former Gurdaspur SP Salwinder Singh and his jeweller friend Rajesh Verma. Terrorists first opened fire on five unarmed Defence Security Corps personnel at 3.30 a.m. on January 2.

“He asked the IAF personnel multiple times, how it was possible for the terrorists to enter the airbase? He said it was a big security lapse and should not have happened,” said another official.

Mr. Modi also shot down a proposal by the Army to pull out BSF forces from the ‘peaceful eastern border with Bangladesh’ and redeploy them as ‘second line of defence’ along the Punjab border, said an official.

“Army officials were of the view that since nothing much was happening on the eastern border except cattle smuggling, the forces should be sent to the Punjab frontier instead. The PM did not concur with this proposal,” said a senior official.

The Prime Minister was also informed that unusually the terrorists were carrying “mortars.” Officials said it was due to this that the terrorist (one or two, still not known) who took position in the airmen’s billet, could continuously attack the security forces, engaging them for almost 60 hours.

Modi didn’t fault NSG deployment

Personnel at the IAF airbase in Pathankot told Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday that the route the terrorists took had not been established.

While abducted jeweller Rajesh Verma had said he heard terrorists talking among themselves about a device with a “blue line”, the agencies had not been able to recover it from the rubble of the blown-up building or from the bodies of the four terrorists.

The official said the Prime Minister posed no questions on the decision to deploy the NSG commandos instead of the Army.

STOCKTAKING

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Pathankot airbase on Saturday to take stock of the situation after recent terror attack.

» The PM spent around 90 minutes at the airbase and later did an aerial survey of the border areas in Punjab.

» The spate of terror attacks in Punjab including the July 27, 2014 attack on Dinanagar police station, was discussed at the meeting.

» Modi repeatedly asked the IAF personnel how it was possible for the terrorists to enter the airbase, implying that it was a big security lapse.

» The PM was told that due to heightened security along the Jammu border, terrorists were choosing the Punjab border to infiltrate.

» Modi shot down a proposal by the Army to pull out BSF forces from along Bangladesh border and redeploy them as a "second line of defence along the Punjab border".

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BSF denies infiltration through Punjab border

The Border Security Force submitted a detailed report to the Union Home Ministry on Wednesday, saying there is no evidence of infiltration along the International Border, though the six terrorists killed in the Pathankot operation are believed to have entered through the Punjab border.

The BSF will deploy 2,000 additional personnel along the Punjab and Jammu borders to plug unfenced riverine and forest gaps.

Officials said the BSF submitted the report after Director-General D.K. Pathak undertook a forward area tour along the International Border on Tuesday, including at Bamiyal, a border village in Pathankot, which is believed to have been used by terrorists to infiltrate into the country and attack the airbase.

They said the force has put forth the details of its night “morchas” and movement of its patrol teams in these areas on December 30 and 31, when it is suspected that the terrorists crossed over from the other side and attacked the airbase.

The force, in the report, has chronicled the movements and surveillance records of its satellite-based devices and imagers that detect intrusion and illegal movement along the border to validate its point.

“The force commanders have put forth the evidence to state that nothing has gone unnoticed in the past few days,” they said.

They said it had been decided to bolster manpower to plug vulnerable gaps, especially along Punjab and Jammu, and two battalions (2,000 troops) would be required for the task in the primary stages.

An NIA team, which is investigating the case, interrogated the former Gurdaspur Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh, who was “abducted” by the terrorists. The scene of abduction was recreated and the team visited Bamiyal. Mr. Singh was taken to the places he had visited before he, along with his jeweller friend Rajesh Kumar Verma and cook Madan Gopal, was abducted.

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Deploying NSG instead of Army was a mistake: experts

Army and security circles are bewildered and angry over the way the government kept the Army from the Pathankot terror hunt, especially in the early phase, when Army troops were available in thousands close by. Instead of pressing Army units into immediate action, precious time was lost in sending a few dozen NSG commandos from New Delhi.

“None of us can believe what they did. We have two infantry divisions and two armored brigades in the vicinity. We have at least three corps headquarters in a couple of hours’ drive, and the Northern Army headquarters too. All of those troops are seasoned in carrying out counter-terror operations,” said a serving Brigadier posted close to Pathankot. “Instead, they wasted time to send a few dozen NSG commandos to the base?”

Lieutenant-General Prakash Katoch, a veteran para-commando and leading authority on special forces operations in India, said: “NSG is required for a specific target, it cannot tackle an area target.” He said that in a place such as the Pathankot airbase, the perimeter had to be secured first and combing operations to hunt down terrorists should have been initiated. “The Army is the best for that,” he said.

MULTIPLE LAPSES

The terrorist attack on the Pathankot airbase was a result of a series of systemic security failures at various levels.

1 Despite a huge concentration of Army units in and around Pthankot, why were they not tasked with securing the airbase?

2 Despite statements by SP Salwinder Singh and his cook that they were intercepted by terrorists, why did the Punjab police not act?

3 Why was the Army not deployed for combing operations?

4 Why were Garud personnel and Defence Security Corps, who are not trained for anti-terror operations, the primary responders?

5 With so many security agencies involved, who was in charge of the operation against the terrorists?

“There is no harm in sending the NSG, but then you should have a clear command and control. You cannot shove in the BSF, NSG, Army, etc, just like that. Was there a command and control there?” Gen. Katoch said.

General V.P. Malik, former Army chief, told The Hindu: “I don’t know if the NSG was the right one. They came from Delhi. It should be given to a local agency which knows the place.”

Former IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Fali H.Major said: “Garuds were raised for a different mandate for special Air Force tasks and not anti-terror operations. The DSC personnel are basically re-employed people.”

A serving Army officer said that the Army with its 10 Special Forces units, and at least the one based in Udhampur, would have been in Pathankot in a couple of hours. “We practise all the time for such operations,” he said. “Instead, you send NSG commandos in the night. Who told them that they could defend the 24 sqkm of the base with 160 commandos?”

A senior serving officer said if the government had followed the management principle of “functional foremanship” which advocates the right man for the right job, it would have saved precious lives and ensured quick elimination of terrorists.

“It was not the job of the NSG or the Garuds. It is the job of the infantry,” he told The Hindu. The local Army unit conducts a recce of the entire airbase every six months, but they were not allowed to get in when the situation came, he said.

Lt.Gen. Vinod Bhatia, former Director-General of Military Operations, told The Hindu: “The operation was not handled the way it should have been. The fact is, it has gone on for too long. If the Army was called in, they could have a better cordon as they have more strength. There was no unity of command. There has to be a single commander given the wherewithal and authority.”

“The complete infantry of the Indian Army has been fighting counter insurgency for decades,” another officer noted, adding, “This could have been handled much better with fewer casualties.” “How many times has the government airlifted the NSG for operations in the Valley? The infantry has been fighting for a long time and has been doing a good job,” he said.

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