Panel in Pathankot to study security threat

Ruchika M Khanna & Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh/Gurdaspur, February 11

The two terror attacks in Pathankot and Gurdaspur that took place within a span of five months have brought the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs to the state. Their two-day visit begins today.

The committee members, who arrived in Gurdaspur today and visited the Pathankot airbase and the Paharipur border outpost, are here to study the problems posed to the country’s internal security from across the border, and the threats that need to be addressed immediately.

The committee will visit border areas in Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Amritsar and have “intense” discussions with the officials of the Border Security Force (BSF), the Intelligence Bureau and the state government at Amritsar tomorrow.

They will discuss the strength of the BSF deployed along the 532 km stretch of the international border that runs from Pathankot to Fazilka in Punjab, the porous border and the steps taken to plug the gaps.

Sources in the state government have told The Tribune that Punjab Director General of Police Suresh Arora and Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Jagpal Sandhu would give detailed presentation to the committee of parliamentarians, which is headed by Rajya Sabha MP P Bhattacharya.

As many as 12 MPs (from both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha) of this 31-member panel are in the state, including MPs K Rahman Khan and D Raja.

Official sources say the 532 km stretch of the international border that runs through the state is poorly manned and that the state government would raise the matter with the panel. There are just 12 BSF battalions (comprising of 750 personnel) posted in this stretch.

The state has 30 reserve battalions (Punjab Armed Police, Punjab Police and Indian Reserve Battalion). The 10 companies of central paramilitary forces, requisitioned in the wake of the religious unrest in the state last year have since been sent back.

When contacted, Rajya Sabha MP D Raja, told The Tribune that after meeting officials at Amritsar tomorrow, they would prepare a detailed report. This will then be submitted to the the Centre.

NSG to revise norms for handling booby traps

New Delhi: National Security Guard Director General RC Tayal on Thursday announced plans to update procedures for handling booby traps laid by terrorists and its deployment during such an attack. He asserted their team killed six terrorists during the Pathankot Air Force Station terrorist attack last month, which the NIA investigators have so far refused to confirm. National Security Guard Director General RC Tayal on Thursday announced plans to update procedures for handling booby traps laid by terrorists and its deployment during such an attack. India's top bomb disposal expert Lieut Colonel Niranjan died after a grenade booby-trapped on the body of a dead terrorist exploded. — TNS

Ahead of panel’s arrival, Kanpur man held

Interestingly, hours before the delegates were scheduled to reach Pathankot, the IAF authorities nabbed a Kanpur-based person, Shakeel Hussain. Officials remained tight-lipped about the matter.