Mumbai: There was an outrage in the Maharashtra Assembly on Tuesday over the government's refusal to table the Ram Pradhan Committee report on 26/11 lapses.
The state government, instead, tabled an Action Taken Report (ATR) in which it once again defended former Police Commissioner Hasan Gafoor who was shunted out last week. The Pradhan Committee had indicted him for failing to take charge that night.
"If the Pradhan Committee has praised the response of the police, why blame the police chief?" the ATR questioned.
NDTV had revealed the contents of the Pradhan Committee report almost two weeks ago, but several ministers were unhappy with its findings, calling it biased against Gafoor and soft on DGP A N Roy. And the government's refusal to table the report seems to be an attempt to save face and keep the rest of the committee's views from the public.
"The Chief Minister had promised to table the report, but looks like they are scared of tabling it," said Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam.
The government, though, has included portions of the committee's findings in its Action Taken Report, which says the Centre did not give specific intelligence inputs to the state, so the state cannot be blamed.
The ATR also adds that the Mumbai police had warned the Taj and Trident Hotels of security threats but they did not take them seriously.
It also slams the police saying the Maharashtra Police severely lacked equipment and the last lot of ammunition it received was in 2006.
But the focus was clearly not on what's its chosen to show, but on what it's chosen to hide.