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Amid reports that the Ram Pradhan probe has raised questions on the supervision and coordination of the police force during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, the demand for making the findings public grew loud on Monday night.
Pradhan, a former bureaucrat, declined to comment on the veracity of the report, which a TV news channel claimed was the one submitted by him to the Maharashtra government on the 26/11 attacks.
The report is yet to be made public. "I have no comments to offer. I am also watching the TV channel," Pradhan told PTI.
The channel CNN-IBN claimed it has accessed the report which is purported to have said that the Mumbai police was severely handicapped during terrorist attacks on the city on November 26 last year because it lacked weapons, bullet-proof jackets and communication equipment.
The Ram Pradhan committee had probed the government's response to the attacks. The supervision and coordination of the police force and the infrastructural support was poor and inadequate, the channel quoted the report as saying.
The channel said the 200-page report confirms that the police were given inadequate bullet-proof jackets, like the one worn by Hemant Karkare, chief of Maharashtras Anti- Terrorist Squad, who was killed in the attack.
"The Ram Pradhan (committee) report should have been made public long time back. We had to wait till (news channel) CNN-IBN leaks the report. At least now the government should make the report public," Vinita, widow of the then Additional Police Commissioner Ashok Kamte, who was also killed during the attacks, told PTI.
Vinita had raised questions on the report in her book To The Last Bullet, released in Mumbai recently. Kavita, widow of the then ATS chief Hemant Karkare, said, "Since beginning I was with a view that the report should be made available to the public as every person would come to know who had done what during the attacks."
Meanwhile, a legislator of the ruling Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra on Monday demanded setting up of an inquiry committee to look into all aspects pertaining to the Mumbai terror attacks.
"There should be now a full-fledged inquiry committee to look into all matters, right from intelligence reports and alerts given to the government (before the 26/11 attacks)," Jitendra Awhad said.
"I am really shocked at the revelations made by Ram Pradhan Committee," he added. To a question on whether the Pradhan report should be made public and a fresh committee with wider terms of reference be set up, former Mumbai Police Commissioner M N Singh said, "I agree. The Pradhan report should have been disclosed earlier to clear all doubts."
He said the Centre should appoint a committee of experts to go into remaining issues and get a comprehensive report and accordingly proceed on what needs to be done.
According to television channel CNN-IBN, which claimed access to the committee report, Mumbai cops lacked weapons, bulletproof jackets and communication equipment.
To substantiate its point, the report noted that 'the last supply of AK-47 rounds was 45,000 received in 2005. After 2006 December no ammunition had been received. Since September 27, 2007 no firing practice was done due to shortage of practice ammunition.'
'Even special assault teams, quick response teams and mobile teams were under-equipped with only lathis, gas guns and .303 rifles, which were no match to the superior fire power of the terrorists, who carried AK-47 assault rifles, pistols, and hand grenades,' the report added.
The report also flayed the state government over its inability to beef up coastal security despite repeated intelligence inputs.
'Despite receiving as many as six alerts between August 2006 and April 2008 about the likelihood of sea route by terrorists, no significant steps had been taken by the state administration/government to beef up coastal security.'
Assessing the response of the city police, the report noted that there was a visible lack of cohesion and communication in the internal working of the Mumbai Police Commissioner's Office.
While there is scathing criticism of commissioner Hasan Gafoor, without being named, Joint CP Rakesh Maria praised for effective handling of control room. There is also special mention for younger police officers.
'The committee is of the view that on occasion of a crisis, such as the Mumbai faced, the Commissioner of Police should have been in the Command Centre in the Control Room, which might have helped in better utilisation of forces and prevented duplication of efforts by different police units.'
'The committee is constrained to observe that as a rule, carefully prepared Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that draw upon experience and lessons from past, should not be overlooked in crisis management. If each top officer, such as the CP or the DGP treats SOPs in cavalier manner, why have the SOPs at all?'
The Ram Pradhan report is yet to be made public though 'relevant portions' have been tabled in the state legislature.
Additional Reportage: PTI