12-17-2008, 05:03 AM
Two news stories from Pioneer
RAW revamp on cards
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->NATION | Wednesday, December 17, 2008 | Email | Print |
RAW revamp on cards
Rakesh K Singh | New Delhi
Now that the Director of Intelligence Bureau PC Haldar relinquishes charge on December 31, <b>the Government has begun to move to spruce up the functioning of the external intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), believed in the official circles responsible for having failed to track the Pakistani vessel that brought the terrorists into Indian waters for attacking Mumbai last week.</b>
Following the appointment of Special Director of IB Rajiv Mathur as OSD in the agency on December 8, <b>Haldar has been sideline and was not even informed about a high level meeting to review security on Thursday. </b>
Mathur will officially take charge as Director of the Intelligence Bureau upon superannuation of Haldar on December 31. Mathur attended the weekly security review meeting on Thursday, <b>Government sources said and added that current Intelligence Bureau Director has virtually been relieved of his role in the agency.</b>
The Government is now considering measures to <b>fix up accountability on the top echelons of the external intelligence agency for failing to prevent the Mumbai terror attack late last month despite having at its command an array of technical equipment, including a dedicated spy satellite and UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) for surveillance over the land and sea border, officials said</b>.
The other concern is <b>the leakage of classified but not so specific inputs to a section of the media by the Research and Analysis Wing for covering up its failure in developing the skeleton leads prior to the Mumbai attack,</b> the officials said.
However, the delay in any action against the Research and Analysis Wing boss has led to speculation about the play of patrimonial factors in shielding him so far as he is connected to a former Cabinet Secretary who in turn is reportedly having close relation with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
A senior Union Home Ministry official said, <b>"If the accountability of the Research and Analysis Wing officials is not fixed then the proposed National Investigation Agency would prove to be futile as the Government will be saddled with yet another non-functional institution."</b>
Reports about <b>coterie culture of top Research and Analysis Wing officials holding sway over the agency for vested interests have also emerged as a major concern </b>for the Government that has been on the dock for poor handling of the internal security in the face of ever increasing terror strikes in the country for the last few years.
<b>Research and Analysis Wing Secretary Ashok Chaturvedi is reportedly using his bungalow in Noida as safe houses of the agency for twin objectives of seeking rent and maintenance from the Government funds.</b>
<b>Chaturvedi has reportedly also allowed his confidantes to enroll their wards on the rolls of the agency in utter disregard of professionalism and national security interests.</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The joke was that RAW was called Relatives and Wives Association.
BJP and Sena root for ouster of DGP Roy and others
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Sena, BJP root for ouster of DGP Roy, Mumbai Police Commissioner
TN Raghunatha | Mumbai
Castigating the Maharashtra Government for its failure in preventing the recent attack on Mumbai, the <b>Opposition Shiv Sena-BJP alliance on Tuesday vehemently clamoured for the immediate sacking of State Director General of Police AN Roy, City Police Commissioner Hasan Gafoor and Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Chitkala Zutsi for their lapses.</b>
The recent Mumbai mayhem dominated the proceedings of both the Houses of Maharashtra Legislature on the second day of the winter session at Nagpur, with the Opposition saffron alliance members coming down heavily on the Democratic Front (DF) <b>Government for its failure to heed the warnings given by the intelligence agencies about a likely terrorist attack on the country's commercial capital.</b>
Initiating a debate on an adjournment motion moved by the Opposition on the Mumbai attack issue in the State Assembly,<b> leader of Opposition Ramdas Kadam (of the Shiv Sena) singled out Roy, Gafoor and Zutsi for an attack and said that the three officers had done hardly anything to prevent the attack. "The state government should remove these top officers immediately from service," </b>Kadam said.
Hitting out at the state government for its failure to provide sophisticated weapons to the police personnel, <b>Kadam lamented that three senior police officers, including ATS chief Hemant Karkare and Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamate, fell to the bullets of terrorists as they were wearing sub-standard bullet proof jackets. He also said that encounter-specialist Vijay Salaskar, who had in his career gunned down over 75 underworld gangsters, did not have an AK-47 rifle when he set out to take on the terrorists.</b>
Former Deputy Chief Minister and BJP group leader Gopinath Munde also made a strong case for the removal of Roy and Gafoor, saying: <b>"Given that CM Vilasrao Deshmukh and Deputy Chief Minister RR Patil had to resign owning moral responsibility, what is holding the State government from sacking Roy and Gafoor who miserably failed in doing their duty? Their continuance in their posts does not do any good to the morale of the police force in which there are some good and efficient officers,"</b> Munde said.
In the Upper House, senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari minced no words when he took on the state government on specific issues. Among other things, <b>Gadkari said that the state government had failed to act on the warnings it was receiving from time to time -- since November 2006 to as late as November 22, 2008. "So specific were warning from the intelligence agencies that they had hinted at the possibility of an attack from the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Still nothing was done by both the state government and the police department to prevent the November 26,2008 Mumbai attack," Gadkari said. Gadkari said it was sheer negligence on the part of the city and State police top brass that had contributed to the Mumbai attack. The BJP leader also demanded an inquiry into the improper utilization of funds provided by the Centre to tackle the likely terror attacks by sea routes.</b>
The BJP leader said that <b>an independent police training cadre -- with a separate budget and special allowances- be created </b>by hiring the retired army officers to impart training to policemen.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
So the official in his jeep at time of attack is most likely Mr Gafoor.
RAW revamp on cards
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->NATION | Wednesday, December 17, 2008 | Email | Print |
RAW revamp on cards
Rakesh K Singh | New Delhi
Now that the Director of Intelligence Bureau PC Haldar relinquishes charge on December 31, <b>the Government has begun to move to spruce up the functioning of the external intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), believed in the official circles responsible for having failed to track the Pakistani vessel that brought the terrorists into Indian waters for attacking Mumbai last week.</b>
Following the appointment of Special Director of IB Rajiv Mathur as OSD in the agency on December 8, <b>Haldar has been sideline and was not even informed about a high level meeting to review security on Thursday. </b>
Mathur will officially take charge as Director of the Intelligence Bureau upon superannuation of Haldar on December 31. Mathur attended the weekly security review meeting on Thursday, <b>Government sources said and added that current Intelligence Bureau Director has virtually been relieved of his role in the agency.</b>
The Government is now considering measures to <b>fix up accountability on the top echelons of the external intelligence agency for failing to prevent the Mumbai terror attack late last month despite having at its command an array of technical equipment, including a dedicated spy satellite and UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) for surveillance over the land and sea border, officials said</b>.
The other concern is <b>the leakage of classified but not so specific inputs to a section of the media by the Research and Analysis Wing for covering up its failure in developing the skeleton leads prior to the Mumbai attack,</b> the officials said.
However, the delay in any action against the Research and Analysis Wing boss has led to speculation about the play of patrimonial factors in shielding him so far as he is connected to a former Cabinet Secretary who in turn is reportedly having close relation with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
A senior Union Home Ministry official said, <b>"If the accountability of the Research and Analysis Wing officials is not fixed then the proposed National Investigation Agency would prove to be futile as the Government will be saddled with yet another non-functional institution."</b>
Reports about <b>coterie culture of top Research and Analysis Wing officials holding sway over the agency for vested interests have also emerged as a major concern </b>for the Government that has been on the dock for poor handling of the internal security in the face of ever increasing terror strikes in the country for the last few years.
<b>Research and Analysis Wing Secretary Ashok Chaturvedi is reportedly using his bungalow in Noida as safe houses of the agency for twin objectives of seeking rent and maintenance from the Government funds.</b>
<b>Chaturvedi has reportedly also allowed his confidantes to enroll their wards on the rolls of the agency in utter disregard of professionalism and national security interests.</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The joke was that RAW was called Relatives and Wives Association.
BJP and Sena root for ouster of DGP Roy and others
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Sena, BJP root for ouster of DGP Roy, Mumbai Police Commissioner
TN Raghunatha | Mumbai
Castigating the Maharashtra Government for its failure in preventing the recent attack on Mumbai, the <b>Opposition Shiv Sena-BJP alliance on Tuesday vehemently clamoured for the immediate sacking of State Director General of Police AN Roy, City Police Commissioner Hasan Gafoor and Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Chitkala Zutsi for their lapses.</b>
The recent Mumbai mayhem dominated the proceedings of both the Houses of Maharashtra Legislature on the second day of the winter session at Nagpur, with the Opposition saffron alliance members coming down heavily on the Democratic Front (DF) <b>Government for its failure to heed the warnings given by the intelligence agencies about a likely terrorist attack on the country's commercial capital.</b>
Initiating a debate on an adjournment motion moved by the Opposition on the Mumbai attack issue in the State Assembly,<b> leader of Opposition Ramdas Kadam (of the Shiv Sena) singled out Roy, Gafoor and Zutsi for an attack and said that the three officers had done hardly anything to prevent the attack. "The state government should remove these top officers immediately from service," </b>Kadam said.
Hitting out at the state government for its failure to provide sophisticated weapons to the police personnel, <b>Kadam lamented that three senior police officers, including ATS chief Hemant Karkare and Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamate, fell to the bullets of terrorists as they were wearing sub-standard bullet proof jackets. He also said that encounter-specialist Vijay Salaskar, who had in his career gunned down over 75 underworld gangsters, did not have an AK-47 rifle when he set out to take on the terrorists.</b>
Former Deputy Chief Minister and BJP group leader Gopinath Munde also made a strong case for the removal of Roy and Gafoor, saying: <b>"Given that CM Vilasrao Deshmukh and Deputy Chief Minister RR Patil had to resign owning moral responsibility, what is holding the State government from sacking Roy and Gafoor who miserably failed in doing their duty? Their continuance in their posts does not do any good to the morale of the police force in which there are some good and efficient officers,"</b> Munde said.
In the Upper House, senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari minced no words when he took on the state government on specific issues. Among other things, <b>Gadkari said that the state government had failed to act on the warnings it was receiving from time to time -- since November 2006 to as late as November 22, 2008. "So specific were warning from the intelligence agencies that they had hinted at the possibility of an attack from the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Still nothing was done by both the state government and the police department to prevent the November 26,2008 Mumbai attack," Gadkari said. Gadkari said it was sheer negligence on the part of the city and State police top brass that had contributed to the Mumbai attack. The BJP leader also demanded an inquiry into the improper utilization of funds provided by the Centre to tackle the likely terror attacks by sea routes.</b>
The BJP leader said that <b>an independent police training cadre -- with a separate budget and special allowances- be created </b>by hiring the retired army officers to impart training to policemen.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
So the official in his jeep at time of attack is most likely Mr Gafoor.