Pulwama attack: Former RAW chief Vikram Sood said there could be "security lapse somewhere"
Vikram Sood, the former chief of India's spy agency RAW, said terror attacks as the suicide car bombing in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama could not have happened without a "security lapse somewhere". "I have no idea what actually went wrong, but this kind of incident does not take place without a security lapse somewhere," Mr Sood said at an event in Hyderabad.
"Obviously, there was just more than one man involved. There would have been the guy who brought the explosives. Someone put it together. Somebody got the car. They have knowledge about the (CRPF) vehicles' movement," said the former chief of the Research and Analysis Wing, according to news agency ANI.
On Thursday, the long 78-vehicle convoy was running on the Jammu-Srinagar highway when the car driven by a 22-year-old terrorist of the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed overtook the vehicles and detonated 60 kg of RDX.
The country's top intelligence officers along with Home Minister Rajnath Singh held a closed-door meeting in Delhi on Saturday to prepare a dossier on Pakistan's involvement in the attack that killed over 40 CRPF soldiers.
Pulwama attack: The suicide car bombing by a terrorist of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed killed over 40 CRPF soldiers
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said those responsible for the Pulwama terror attack would pay a "very heavy price" and had made a "big mistake". The 'Most Favoured Nation' status to Pakistan, which used to ensure trade benefits, was removed and all items imported from the neighbouring country now attract 200 per cent duty. On the diplomatic front, India has asked the international community to isolate Pakistan unless it stopped giving shelter to terrorists on its soil.
When asked about other options that India can use, Vikram Sood said, "It's not a boxing match. You do a reaction like the PM said you do it at your convenience, at your own time and place of your choice. It doesn't happen tomorrow or today."
The Army's special forces had destroyed terrorist camps across the Line of Control after an attack in a military camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri killed 19 soldiers in September 2016. The swift and deadly surgical strike was a major success as the mission planners struck the terrorists hard.
India has started meeting envoys of the United Nation P5 countries - which includes China - the Gulf, Japan and European nations to brief them about Pakistan's role in sponsoring terror, sources have told NDTV. The P5 refers to the United Nations Security Council's five permanent members - United States, United Kingdom, Russia, France and China.
With inputs from ANI