On February 14, the nation paid homage to the martyrs of the Pulwama terror attack on its first anniversary. However, the dreadful and spine-chilling incident that took the lives of 40 CRPF jawans reveals the painful fact of how colossal our intelligence lapse was. While the JeM suicide bomber began his groundwork a year ago, his activities raised an alarm among intelligence units in the Valley. Despite adequate intelligence that suggested a strike, a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying more than 2,500 CRPF personnel was rolled out from Jammu to Srinagar; officials later admitted that it was ‘foolhardy’ to transport troops in bulk in a semi-war zone. While it must be thanked that a memorial to the slain CRPF personnel was inaugurated at the Lethpora camp in J&K, one wonders how the 80-kg. RDX trespassed the international borders to the most armed zone on earth.
R. Sivakumar,
Chennai