Click to play videoMumbai: Maharashtra government should have ordered a Central enquiry instead of a state investigation into lapses during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks according to V Balachandran, a key member of the Ram Pradhan Committee.
Breaking his silence for the first time since the high level panel was set up, Balachandran also demanded that their report be made public
Balachandran, the other member of the Pradhan Committee, told CNN-IBN that the report was adequate as per the terms of reference.
"Central probe was needed," Balachandran told CNN-IBN.
"We have no idea why it (26/11 report) was not made public. We feel that we had made a thorough enquiry answering all the three terms of reference. We took care not to do a parallel investigation since the court was already seized of the FIRs. We enquired only into the three terms of reference. We are not able to comment whether a repeat of 26/11 can be avoided. Our feeling is that Maharashtra government wanted a quick administrative enquiry on what went wrong. Hence they had framed only three points and wanted the enquiry to be completed in two months," added Balachandran.
Apart from voicing his views for the first time on the crucial 26/11 report, Balachandran has raised a larger question over the nature of the probe itself.
He told CNN-IBN that he feels the Government of India should have ordered a national enquiry instead of focusing on a state level enquiry as several Central agencies like the Army, Navy and National Security Guards were beyond their charter.
When asked whether there was any pressure while working on the report, his answer was a firm no.
On allegations of bias by 26/11 hero Ashok Kamte's widow, Vinita Kamte, Balachandran said "The Committee based its findings not on individual policemen's statements but considering all data presented to it."
"I doubt that as the committee has made observations based on the version given by a constable who was not even there when the three senior officers proceeded towards the front gate of Cama Hospital," Vinita Deshmukh, who along with Vinita Kamte authored To The Last Bullet, had alleged.
But doubts and questions which the Pradhan committee was expected to clear out are still hovering around.
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