Air Commodore JS Dhamoon, who was the commander of the strategically important Pathankot Airbase when terrorists attacked it on January 2 last year, has reportedly resigned from service some days back after the Court of Inquiry by the IAF indicted him for lapses in handling the situation and breakdown of command. Sources said Dhamoon was asked to quit.
Five terrorists and seven Services personnel including a lt Colonel were killed in the assault which lasted for more than three days.
The attack on the base came days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in lahore on December 25, in 2015 while returning from Afghanistan. India blamed Pakistan for the act and since then relations between the two countries worsened.
Besides holding Dhamoon responsible for reportedly inept handling of the situation, the IAF probe also found loopholes in the security mechanism at the forward base, which has MIG-21s, MIG-27s and other sophisticated missile systems, sources said here on Tuesday. The terrorists, however, could not reach that area where these critical assets were kept and neutralised by teams of Army and National Security Guard (NSG) commandos. Dhamoon was later shifted from the airbase pending probe.
While the IAF was yet to officially comment on the issue, sources said the probe report now with the Western Air Command reportedly said the response by the higher command structure of the airbase was inadequate.
Poor preparedness to deal with such exigencies also came under the scanner of the Court of Inquiry, which reportedly said improper lighting and stationing of the security men to guard the outer perimeter of the airbase spread over 25 square kms were some of the reasons for terrorists to sneak into the base,
Thick under growth inside and outside the airbase and inadequate manning of nullahs flowing into the airport also found mention in the report, sources said. Irregular pruning of the undergrowth provided cover to the terrorists who then climbed on to a tree to gain access into the airbase thereby avoiding the barbed wire installed on the perimeter wall, they said.
Moreover, the capabilities of Garud commandos of the IAF also were also questioned by the probe. Raised five years back to guard all the vital IAF airbases, the Garud commando unit at Pathankot was reportedly found wanting in dealing with a bunch of determined terrorists and the probe proposed better training to prevent such incidents in future, sources said.