Can’t blame state police, Centre at fault, says Capt
Thursday, 07/01/2016
http://www.indiapress.org/gen/news.php/The_Tribune/
New Delhi : Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh today came down heavily on the Union Government for blaming the state police for their alleged poor response to the infiltration by terrorists in Pathankot.
“The Punjab Police did a very good job. They gave intelligence input well in time. It was not their job to launch counter-terrorism operations. That was the job of the Centre. Sending the National Security Guards to Pathankot was a tactical mistake for which someone at the Centre should own the responsibility,” Captain said today.
He held a meeting with Congress general secretary in charge of Punjab Shakeel Ahmad ahead of the expected reconstitution of the state unit. Amarinder said loss of lives in Pathankot was the result of wrong deployment and poor operational command decision.
“They should have sent an infantry battalion of the Army, but they sent NSG commandos who are trained to handle situations such as a hostage crisis in a hotel or a hijack. They are not trained to handle terrorists in the field. That is the job of the Army. But since NSG commandos are blue-eyed boys of the civil security administration, they were put on job instead of the Army. This is a lapse at the level of the Centre,” Amarinder said.
He said: “Someone must at least own the responsibility for what happened. One company of Army’s infantry battalion was enough to neutralise terrorists. The decision by the Centre compromised operational efficiency at Pathankot and we lost lives unnecessarily.”
Asked if the second terror strike in Punjab in five months was an indication of resurgence of terrorism in the state, Captain said: “There is zero support for any extremist movement in Punjab. This is a specific terror strike. The terrorists who stormed Dinanagar and those who hit Pathankot have both followed the same route opposite Shakkargarh in the area. This area has a porous border and needs a heavy BSF deployment to man the borders. There is no question of return of terrorism in Punjab. People of the state want peace.”
