Security agencies failed to trace terrorists for 24 hours

The terrorists killed an Innova driver and attacked the Gurdaspur SP hours before the Pathankot attack as security agencies failed to connect the dots.

CHANDIGARH/PATHANKOT: A group of five terrorists was on the loose for more than 24 hours before they attacked the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot, exposing chinks in the security set-up of the border districts of Punjab.

The audacious attack comes barely six months after a similar terror strike in Gurdaspur’s Dinanagar town that left 10 people, including a superintendent of police ( SP) dead, exposing gaps in the security surveillance of the international border with Pakistan.

Commodore Uday Bhaskar (retd), director, Society for Policy Studies, said the fact that terrorists were on the loose for long reflects gaps in information and intelligence sharing between local and higher levels.

The attack started at 12.15am on Friday from Kathlore bridge, barely 15km from the border, when the four terrorists in army fatigues flagged down the sports utility vehicle (SUV) being driven by Gurdaspur SP Salwinder Singh. Little did he know that the men in uniform were terrorists who had stabbed and killed the driver of an Innova SUV and abandoned it when its tyres burst.

The terrorists barged into the SP’s vehicle, tied up and thrashed the three occupants before commandeering it for an hour. They threw the SP out of the moving vehicle near Tajpur and used the GPS to find their way to the Pathankot air base nearby. GURDASPUR SP’S INPUT TAKEN LIGHTLY?

The SP called up the police control room with a villager’s help and later informed his seniors about the terrorists. The SP’s aides told the police that the terrorists said they were avenging the 2013 hanging of the Afzal Guru, who was convicted for the 2001 attack on Parliament.

Initially, it seems the police did not trust the SP. The police were even looking at the possibility of personal enmity behind the crime. Police authorities in neighbouring Jammu and Kangra districts were also caught unawares.

Former chief of bureau of police research and development, NR Wasan, termed the response of Punjab police as “underwhelming” after the senior officer was abducted.

“The state police is and will always remain the first responder and have to be in the forefront in countering terrorists and supporters,” he said. CALLS TO PAKISTAN LEND CREDENCE

It was only when t he Gurdaspur SP’s mobile phone, which was taken away by terrorists, was put on monitoring and calls were traced to Pakistan on Friday evening did the security agencies get to confirm the terror link. By Friday night, it was clear that the intended target of the terrorists was the Pathankot air base. Punjab police ADGP (crime) HS Dhillon, IG (border range) Lok Nath Angra, and DIG Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh were in a meeting through the day. HIGH ALERT BUT LOW FOLLOW-UP

Despite information about the presence of terrorists and the consequent high alert, they managed to enter the high-security Pathankot air force base, spread over 20 sq km.

Besides the IAF base in Pathankot, which was attacked by suspected Pakistani terrorists, Punjab has frontline IAF bases in Adampur (near Jalandhar), Halwara (near Ludhiana) and Bathinda and substantial army presence at various places, including Jalandhar (11 Corps), Pathankot, Amritsar, Bathinda ( 10 Corps) and Patiala ( 1st Armoured Division).

THE ATTACK HAS RAISED QUESTION MARK OVER SECURITY OF THE TOP DEFENCE UNIT, JUST 50 KM AWAY FROM INDIA-PAKISTAN BORDER