NEW DELHI: Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan on Thursday held a high-level security review meeting with Intelligence Bureau (IB) director Tapan Deka and Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) chief Ravi Sinha in the aftermath of the terror attack near Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir, sources said.
Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is likely to soon be officially handed over the probe into the terror attack by the Home Ministry, is looking at whether the timing of the attack is connected to the extradition of 26/11 Mumbai attack plotter Tahawwur Rana.
Even as the agenda of the meeting at North Block has officially not been disclosed, sources said that the deliberations assumed significance due to the presence of top security and intelligence officials, which indicated that discussions took place with regard to key internal security matters.
The sources also indicated that since the meeting took place a day after the government announced some of the decisions taken by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the top security and intelligence brass must have deliberated on the plans to implement them.
Following the CCS meeting on Wednesday evening, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced the suspension of the 1960 Indus Water Treaty, downgrading bilateral ties and shutting down of the Attari check-post. These measures have been taken to hit back at Islamabad in the aftermath of the brazen attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 civilians.
Security around the NIA headquarters, where Rana is in custody, has been beefed up. The NIA is questioning him in connection with the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Rana was associated with the LeT and Pakistan army officials and started plotting the Mumbai attack in 2005-06 along with David Coleman Headley.
The attack on tourists in Pahalgam seems to have been well planned and coordinated from across the border, the sources said.
The NIA team in Pahalgam is conducting a thorough assessment of the attack site and will collect forensic evidence, which will help them in identifying those responsible for the carnage, a senior agency official said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who had reached Srinagar a few hours after the deadly attack, vowed strict action and assured that the perpetrators “will not be spared”.
