26/11 report does not give clean chit to cops

A day after Ram Pradhan -- who headed a committee on the response to 26/11 -- defended the police, the widow of 26/11 martyr Hemant Karkare has lashed out.

She says she is disappointed and if the lapses within the system are not addressed, another 26/11 could recur.

But new information suggests that the report, which is still be to made public, may not be a blanket clean chit to the police. While it praises junior officers, it does point towards a lack of leadership among senior officers and also deficiencies in the state government's response.

Says Ram Pradhan, former Union Home Secretary: "No police force in the world could have tackled this war-like situation. Many police officials showed exemplary courage that night."

While the retired bureaucrat defended the police at a press conference, sources say his report does not give the force a clean chit.

The Pradhan committee, appointed last December, examined charges of police and state inaction during the terror strike. Sources say:

The report says there was a lack of leadership at senior level in the police

It pinpoints deficiencies among individuals and systems in the police force

Deficiencies in the state governments response

Some criticism of the is police exaggerated

The families of the men who sacrificed their lives that night are hoping the report takes a tough look at what went wrong that night.

Pradhan's comments so far have not gone down well with Kavita Karkare, the widow of 26/11 martyr Hemant Karkare.

"I am disappointed. There were lots of lapses. If we do not learn from our history, we will have another 26/11," she says.

The report will be made public only after it is tabled in the state assembly which begins next week.