If terror funding hit, how did Nagrota happen: MPS to panel

IN A meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on home affairs Wednesday, Opposition MPS asked the government why the Nagrota terror attack happened given that the decision on demonetisation had been taken with the plea that it would dry up fund flow for terror organisations. The attack on November 29 left seven Army personnel dead and 16 injured.

Home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi attended the two-hour meeting for 40-odd minutes. Sources said he did not reply to the demonetisation question but replied at length to other questions such as the number of casualties and the number of terrorists involved.

An MP who has been a part of the committee for long asked the question relating to demonetisation, which was said to have been effected to hit at the root of terror by drying up resources.

Chairman P Chidambaram, a former home minister, expressed grave concern over the level of preparedness and wanted to know what lessons have been learnt from past attacks. He also expressed concern about the level of coordination among various national security agencies given the frequency of terror attacks. In earlier meetings, he had spoken about daily meetings among these agencies as had happened during the UPA regime.

The committee was told about longstanding plans for securing the borders including night vision lamps and seismic wires. However dogs like the bull mastiff and the German Shepherd could not used in these areas as they were too expensive, said an Army officer present in the meeting.