NAGPUR: The Democratic Front government on Thursday categorically said that the IB had issued an advisory only to the Coast Guard (CG) and the Indian Navy about a possible terror attack on Mumbai via the sea route and not to the state government.
Home minister Jayant Patil told the legislative assembly that the advisory, which was referred to by BJP member Devendra Fadnavis during the debate on 26/11 attack, was indeed issued, but only to the two Central agencies. “It was not issued to the state government,” the minister insisted.
Fadnavis had told the assembly that IB joint director Prabhakar Alok had issued an advisory on November 19, which was followed by three more - on November 21, 22 and just two days before the attack on November 24.
“In fact the then union home minister Shivraj Patil had specifically alerted the state government during the D-Gs’ conference in New Delhi on November 24 that the LeT was planning a terror attack on important installations or hotels in the financial capital via sea route and that the IB and RAW had intercepted telephonic interaction between the terror outfits,” Fadnavis claimed.
“The government is lying and the D-G is keeping his home minister in the dark,” the Opposition said.
The advisory, said Fadnavis, is normally sent to the D-G, the Mumbai CP and chief secretary as well. “No advisory will ever have specific time or location of the attack. How can it be? But if you corroborate the four advisories since November 19, a very clear picture emerges,” he said.
The opposition demanded that the government should probe this aspect and remove the officials concerned for having failed to analyse and avert such an unprecedented attack.
