‘Mumbai strike shows terrorists getting more daring’

                                                                                      Taj Hotel battles raging fire

The massive terror attack on Mumbai on the night of November 26 has left the country shocked and shaken. While investigative agencies put together the pieces, India Today Group Digital (ITGD) spoke to Col R. Hariharan, a military intelligence specialist on fighting insurgency, to get an insight into the attack.

Armed terrorists openly launching coordinated attacks across Mumbai – how do you perceive this kind of a strike?
This kind of a daring attack in Mumbai definitely shows that the terrorists have become emboldened. They have upgraded their attacks from bomb blasts - seen across the country in the last one year - to an open strike this time.

Since November 2007, there have been serial bomb attacks in the courts of Uttar Pradesh, Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Surat, Delhi and Assam. But the attack in Mumbai definitely marks a new escalation in terror strikes in India.

Across the world, this has been the trend. Terrorists graduate from bomb blasts to more daring strikes, examples being the LTTE and the Turkish insurgents. The same seems to be happening here.

Despite the successes claimed by anti-terror agencies, how did the terrorists manage a strike of such proportions in Mumbai?
Certainly, the terrorists were very well prepared. They would have done months of planning and coordination, selected the targets carefully for maximum impact.

How is this attack different?
Firstly, the targets were chosen not only for maximum casualties but to create an impact internationally. Hotels and upmarket restaurants were attacked.

Tourists were taken hostage to create a sensation worldwide. And to imagine that Mumbai, where so much money goes into security and where there is so much awareness on terror, was targeted once again.

The scale of this terror attack is the same as we are now seeing in Pakistan.

Which group do you think is responsible?
There certainly appears to be a jehadi angle to the strike. The Deccan Mujahideen’s name is doing the rounds, but there is definitely a foreign angle to it as well.

Is this a case of home-grown terror?
There is no such thing as homegrown terror anymore. With Internet and easy access, terrorists across the world are now well networked. Some time ago, the Maoists held a conclave in which representatives from the ULFA and LeT participated.

The intelligence agencies seem to have failed once again.
There can never be 100 per cent intelligence cover. And first of all, are our intelligence sleuths trained enough to do their job properly?

But on the government’s part, there has certainly been a lack of policy and the will to fight terror effectively. In the US, there has been no terror strike after September 11 because the country got its act together. But we haven’t.

What measures do you suggest to curb terror?
We need better coordination between the various agencies, but more importantly we need one central agency that should be accountable for all the anti-terror operations. We need an integrated mechanism. The Home Ministry is not best placed to handle terror because it is already loaded with hundreds of priorities.