Pathankot IAF base remains highly unsafe, says Parliamentary panel

The Parliamentary panel, which is investigating the Pathankot terrorist attack, has said that the Indian Air Force base there remains highly unsafe. The panel on Tuesday also said that urgent steps are required to be taken for its security. ''Even today, there are very unsafe conditions at the Pathankot airbase,'' the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs led by Congress MP from Rajya Sabha P Bhattacharya said.

The panel stressed that ''Pathankot airbase's security cover was not robust and had a poorly guarded perimeter wall''. It urged the Centre to take appropriate steps in this regard.

The panel also stressed that ''something is seriously wrong with the country's counter-terror security establishment.'' It also said that the Government of India wasn’t serious enough and intelligence agencies didn’t function properly.

The panel after interacting with the officers at the Indian Air Force Base failed to understand how Pakistan-based terrorists managed to reach the air force base.

''We had a long interaction with officers at the Pathankot airbase. They said that there was no information that the airbase will be attacked, '' Bhattacharya was quoted as saying by ANI.