Procedural Lapses, Lack of Coordination Led to Uri Attack: Probe

Initial reports suggest highly sensitive Brigade Headquarter of the Army was not properly fenced at several places.

Initial investigations into the terror attack on a highly-guarded army camp in Kashmir here have pointed towards several procedural lapses including lack of coordination between two guard posts.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), meanwhile, was finishing documentation work in the case besides effecting seizures of material evidence from the scene of attack.

The investigators probing the deadly attack in which 18 soldiers were killed have also found that the perimeter of the highly sensitive Brigade Headquarter of the Army was not properly fenced at several places, official sources said on Thursday.

The probe also pointed towards the possibility of the four terrorists involved in the attack having sneaked in from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) through Haji Peer Pass on the intervening night of 16 or 17 September and stayed put at village Sukhdar, overlooking the Brigade headquarter.

Sukhdar village is located at a vantage point allowing an unhindered view of the layout of the army base and movement of personnel inside it.

The growth of wild grass and bushes around the perimeter of the brigade is seen as one of the factors that could have facilitated undetected movement of the terrorists close to the fencing, which was cut by the ultras to sneak inside the base, the sources said.

Standard security procedures provide for mowing any tall grass and cutting of bushes around vital security installations, but it was not done around the target site.

The initial probe has also pointed towards the failure of two manned guard posts, located barely 150 feet from each other, to detect the intrusion inside the base by the terrorists, adding that it could have been due to lack of coordination between the two guard posts.

Jammu and Kashmir police has collected call details and internet data usage of all active cellphones and broadband connections in Uri town for the period of 24 hours prior to daring the attack on the army base, the sources said.