Niranjan died as process didn’t include bomb trap tech: NSG
13 Feb 2016 3:38 AM IST
The National Security Gurad (NSG) lost an experienced counter-IED officer to a deadly booby trap in the Pathankot terror attack as the terrorists used an innovative technique, whose antidote was not included in the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of the elite counter-terror force.
After losing the “brilliant” officer Lt Col Niranjan EK, the NSG has now decided to revise its SOPs for defusing bombs and IEDs, a senior NSG official said here on Thursday.
“Recently, we had an incident at Pathankot, where a grenade was used as a booby trap and unfortunately the NSG lost one of its brilliant officers. In this case, everything that was there in the SOP was followed, but the terrorists used an innovative thing, which somehow was not included in the SOP and that perhaps led to this unfortunate incident,” said NSG chief RC Tayal, while addressing an international seminar on combating IEDs.
He added: “We are now revising our SOPs. We have learnt our lessons and we will incorporate (new things). The scope for improvement is always there. No one can say that the SOP or the procedure, which is prescribed right now cannot be improved. Once we have this experience, we keep on updating these SOPs.”
The NSG Director General (DG), however, maintained that Niranjan, an experienced and highly-trained Commanding Officer of the Bomb Disposal and Detection Unit, had followed all laid down SOPs, while sanitising the bodies of the four terrorists, killed in the attack on IAF base on January 3. “He (Niranjan) followed the SOP,” he said vouching for Niranjan’s competence and professional acumen.
According to senior officials of the NSG bomb data centre, Niranjan was probably the only officer, who had a wide-range of experience in conducting back-to-back anti-sabotage and sanitisation checks on live bombs, including defusing IEDs found in Patna and Bodh Gaya in Bihar, Bangalore and Burdwan in West Bengal.
The DG said a grenade that took the FBI-trained officer’s life was concealed very cleverly by the terrorists. The brave officer had sanitised two bodies and was working on the third when the blast claimed his life. While the DG said the NSG had taken along a “plenty” of bomb suits to the IAF airbase under attack, Niranjan was wearing only a bullet-proof jacket as per the SOP.
Pathankot airbase had 6 terrorists, was in full command: NSG
The National Security Gurad (NSG) on Thursday said there were two heavily armed terrorists hiding in the Pathankot airbase, apart from the four killed, even as it refuted reports about confusion in command, saying it takes “complete control” of the situation when deployed for counter-terror operations anywhere in the country.
“According to us, there were four plus two (terrorists). But, it is for the investigating agency...it is for the NIA to investigate and come up with factual details,” said NSG Director General RC Tayal. Asserting that the terrorists “came over” from Pakistan, the NSG chief said his strike teams had been fired upon from inside an airmen barrack, which they were about to enter.
The January 2 attack on the forward air force base, which houses fighter jet planes and attack helicopters, had left seven security personnel dead. Security forces had recovered four bodies of terrorists and there has been speculation since about the possibility of some others getting killed and ‘melting up’ in a building, which was blown up by the NSG. Tayal said he had “basis” for this assertion.
“NSG teams reached the airmen barrack. The commandos knocked, but the door was closed from inside...We put some wall radar and got indication that someone is inside. A grenade was lobbed from inside, in which five commandos got injuries and one got serious injuries. According to us, weapons were with them (two terrorists) as we were getting firing from inside. Besides, they were carrying large quantity of explosives too,” he said. The Director General, however, said none of his 'black cat' commandos saw the hiding terrorists as continuous firing was taking place.
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