Brigadier Govind Singh Sisodia, the man who successfully led 26/11 operation in Mumbai said India is fully capable and logistically equipped to deal with any terror attack.
He, however adds there is need for new technologies and better coordination between the state and the central intelligence agencies to meet the future challenges.
A highly decorated soldier Sisodia hails from Chopal – one of Himachal Pradesh’s remotest areas. India has moved forward in the past 13 years. The country now finds itself prepared to deal with 26/11 like attack.
“In the 2008, when Pakistani terrorists attacked Mumbai and went on rampage killing innocent people and bombing places, it wasn’t clear how these terrorists or some criminal gang had entered the city. By the time, NSG commands were flown to Mumbai they had already inflicted huge fatalities. They also kept changing their locations and spraying bullets,” Sisodia recalled in an interview to The Outlook over phone from Dehradun, where he is settled now.
He admits there was an intelligence failure that lead to 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
The former NSG commando said the capture of terrorist Ajmal Kasab alive was the biggest achievement in the entire operation.
“The Pakistan had been continuously on denial mode to disown its role in the attack. Once Kasab was arrested and interrogated, Pakistan’s role was exposed to the whole world,” he said.
He adds: “It also goes to India’s credit that Kasab was given a fair trial .Pakistan could not question how prosecution was conducted”.
Asked what change he saw in the country since 2008, Brigadier Sisodia said: “The situation has changed a lot since then. The centre has taken lot of measures to reduce the response time to such attacks, which is most important part of any counter –terrorist attack”.
“Now, even the states like Mumbai has its own counter terrorist force – Force One .The NSG commandos are also logistically located at different hubs so that they can reach the site of attack within a few minutes,” he said.
He said it is the reason behind that India didn't have now any major terrorist attack in the cities.
He also has a word of caution. As per Sisodia, “human surveillance” in the country has identified some “sleeper cells”—operating clandestinely against national interests .
He claims some states including Kerala and north eastern states serve as “nerve centres” of these “sleeper cells”.
“They are Indian people, mainly youth tapped by the ISIS –K,” he said.
“The real threat to India is not known from Pakistan, which stands already exposed to the world after 26/11 attack or Pathankot attack but these invisible ISIS-K sleeper cells,” he added.
