Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 16: Police authorities have changed entire staff of Samba and Kathua Police Control Rooms (PCRs).
Though officially, police officers said that staff at the two PCRs had overstayed, reliable sources said the staff was shifted in the wake of complacency during September 26 fidayeen attack at Hiranagar.
Four police personnel deployed at PCR Samba and an equal number of staff at PCR Kathua have been swapped, DIG Jammu-Kathua range Shakeel Ahmad Baig confirmed.
However, he attributed the change to complacency that had crept in the two PCRs due to overstay of the staff.
“There was no grave negligence by the staff of PCRs at Jammu and Kathua during September 26 attack,” Mr Beig said, adding that the staff was shifted as they had been posted at the two PCRs for a long time.
Reliable sources didn’t rule out the change of entire staff of the two PCRs in the wake of September 26 attack.
There had been allegations that police authorities didn’t pass on the information of suicide attack by the militants at Hiranagar police station and their subsequent escape towards Jammu-Pathankote National Highway in time and, as a result, the militants covered a long distance from Hiranagar in Kathua district to Mehsar Army camp in Samba district.
After attacking Hiranagar police station in the morning of September 26, the militants had killed four police personnel and two civilians and then hijacked a truck to reach Mehsar Army camp, where they killed four Army soldiers including Second-in-Command of the Unit, Lt Col Bikramjeet Singh before being eliminated in the Camp by the Army commandos.
The Government has already ordered an inquiry into the lapses, which would be conducted by Principal Secretary (Home) Suresh Kumar.
Apart from the State Government inquiry, the Army has ordered a separate Court of Inquiry (CoI) into the attack on Army camp. The Border Security Force (BSF) has already completed its inquiry into the reported infiltration of militants from Hiranagar and submitted its report to the Home Secretary.
A concerned police officer maintained that message of the fidayeen attack had been passed on by the PCRs but there had been delayed action at the level of police stations and nakas in Hiranagar and Samba due to which the fidayeens managed to reach from Hiranagar police station to Mehsar Army camp in Samba.
Five police personnel including SHO Hiranagar Inspector Tilak Raj Padha have already been placed under suspension by the police authorities while entire `nafri’ of Hiranagar police station has been replaced with new police personnel including those trained in commando action as it happened to be a border police station.
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