February 14 Pulwama Terror Attack On Convoy Was 'Intelligence Failure': CRPF Inquiry

The February 14 attack on the convoy in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama that killed 40 security personnel was an ‘intelligence failure’, a CRPF inquiry has revealed. Multiple media reports on Tuesday published the findings of the probe that vastly differs from what the Narendra Modi government had said earlier about the attack. The CRPF report says that thought there was a general alert about an IED attack. However, the probe said that there was no input about the car bomb. The CRPF inquiry also pointed out that amid several lapses, one of the key factors that led to high casualties in the attack was the ‘length of the convoy’.

The CRPF inquiry is totally different and in contrast from what Modi government had said about the Pulwama attack in June. On June 26, the Narendra Modi government had told Parliament that the February 14 Pulwama attack, in which over 40 CRPF jawans were killed, was not a failure of intelligence agencies. Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha that whether the Pulwama attack was an intelligence failure, MoS Home Affairs Kishan Reddy, in a one word answer said - No.

When asked by Congress Rajya Sabha MP Nasir Hussain that how the bomber car joined the highway from a slip road which carried around 300 kg of explosive, Reddy said, "Jammu and Kashmir is affected by cross-border terrorism for last 3 decades. But large number of terrorists have been neutralised in past few yrs due to sustained action against terrorists.

"All agencies are working in a coordinated manner and the intelligence inputs are shared among various agencies on real time basis. The investigation by NIA into the Pulwama attack so far, has resulted in identifying the conspirators, suicide attacker and the vehicle provider,” Reddy added.

In the biggest terror attack in nearly two decades in Jammu and Kashmir, 42 CRPF personnel were killed in Pulwama on February 14, 2019. On February 8, a week before the attack, the Jammu and Kashmir police had reportedly sent an intelligence input to the CRPF, BSF, ITBP, SSB, Army and the Air Force warning of a possible IED attack.

Headlined "extremely urgent", the letter sent on behalf of the Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, asked all security agencies to "sanitize areas properly before occupying your place or deployment as there are inputs that IEDs could be used".

HIGHLIGHTS

• CRPF probe pointed out that there was no intelligence input on car bomb.
• One of the key factors that led to high casualties in attack was ‘length of the convoy’.
• CRPF probe is in contrast from what Modi govt had told Parliament.