Ground level intelligence network an imperative: 26/11 panel chief

The spate of terror attacks have underlined the need to develop a ground level intelligence network, former union home secretary Ram Pradhan, who headed the probe panel into the 26/11 terror attacks, has said.

The spate of terror attacks have underlined the need to develop a ground level intelligence network, former union home secretary Ram Pradhan, who headed the probe panel into the 26/11 terror attacks, has said.

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"We need to develop ground level intelligence network, not the intelligence that we get from agencies like IB or RAW. We have to develop a pedestrian network, which was our strength in the past, when the beat cop knew his area and the people living there," Pradhan told Marathi TV channel IBN-Lokmat.

He said that terror attacks on Mumbai are inevitable and the way terrorism is being exported from neighouring countries, it should be assumed that Delhi and Mumbai will always be the prime targets (for such attacks). "We should not forget that," he said.

Pradhan, former Governor and V Balachandran, a retired IPS officer, were asked by the Maharashtra government to probe the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks to find what went wrong with the police and the administrative response.

"There is a feeling that the government has not learnt anything (from 26/11 attacks)," he said. The basic job of the home department is to protect life and property, he added.