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| Even as a CI agency had advance info about Pak designs, tunnel detection prompts intelligence review | | | Bharat Bhushan
JAMMU, Aug 9: Even as an intelligence agency had several advance warnings about the Pak designs to dig a tunnel on the International Border (IB) for carving out an underground infiltration route, its detection near Chilyari outpost in Samba a fortnight back has prompted an intelligence review.
The initial inputs, which were received about six to seven months back, said the underground path could be dug anywhere on the IB, according to official sources.
The tunnel was to be used by the Pak administration to push militants into J&K on the eve of Independence Day to create disturbance, the sources added, saying the border troops were then put on high alert all along the IB.
However, the inputs that poured in later suggested that the tunnel was most likely to be dug in Abdullian, or some other border area of RS Pura sub-sector, sources said.
While the agencies kept their eyes and ears open and also activated their local contacts in search for a tunnel in RS Pura area, its detection in Samba surprised them all.
Sources said as the tunnel at Chilyari had been dug 25 ft beneath the earth's surface, it was not possible for BSF, or any other security agency to detect it as they did not have the equipments needed for the purpose.
"The Archeological Survey of India (ASI), which is equipped such latest equipments, has been trying to find out the length of the tunnel that extended to Pak territory," the sources added.
The tunnel was to be used as an underground infiltration route and to dump arms and ammunition.
Quoting intelligence inputs, sources said some "local" sympathisers of militants and Pakistan were suspected to have played a high-level role in the preparation of the tunnel that had its one end somewhere across the border.
Sources also did not rule out the possibility of repeated trips by these sympathisers to Chilyari to carry out a recce of the border area.
Sources said the tunnel detection had prompted a review of the Indian intelligence to find out where it lacked in acting on an agency's advance information in this regard.
The review would also help the investigators to find out if there was any breakdown in information sharing among the intelligence agencies that might have helped discover the tunnel before it was actually detected by a farmer whose field had caved in due to rains, the sources added.
Sources said the review was being overseen by senior officers of BSF and counter-insurgency (CI) agencies.
There was, however, a dispute among the intelligence agencies whether the information gathered by one intelligence agency was shared among other agencies, or not - and whether any action was taken on the information, the sources added. |
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