Pathankot IAF base remains highly unsafe, Centre to be blamed: Parliamentary panel

New Delhi: The parliamentary panel, which is probing the terrorist attack on Pathankot airbase, said on Tuesday that the Indian Air Force base there is still highly unsafe and called for urgent steps needed to be taken to strengthen its security.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs led by Congress MP from Rajya Sabha P Bhattacharya said, ''Even today, there are very unsafe conditions at the Pathankot airbase.''

The panel, while stressing that ''Pathankot airbase's security cover was not robust and had a poorly guarded perimeter wall'', urged the Centre to take appropriate steps to fix the loopholes.

The panel, while stressing that ''something is seriously wrong with the country's counter-terror security establishment,'' said that if the Government of India was serious and intelligence agencies functioned properly, the picture would've been different.

The panel, which interacted with the officers posted at the Indian Air Force Base, also failed to establish how Pakistan-based terrorists managed to sneak inside the IAF base.

The committee is unable to understand how terrorists managed to reach Pathankot airbase in spite of terror alerts sounded well in advance, he added.

''We had a long interaction with officers at the Pathankot airbase. They said that there was no information that the airbase will be attacked, '' Bhattacharya was quoted as saying by ANI.

How did it happen? Who gave this information to Delhi Air Force? These are remarkable things to search out, Bhattacharya said.

The panel also urged the Centre to take its findings seriously and take immediate steps needed to fix the gaps in the security apparatus there.

We urge upon GoI to take this report seriously and take appropriate steps, Bhattacharya said.

The panel had earlier asked the Centre to explain the Pathankot terror attack and the steps taken by it in the aftermath of the incident.

In the 31-member panel, the BJP has 13 members, Congress-04, BJD-02, Trinamool Congress-02, AIADMK-03, CPI-M, CPI, SP, TRS, TDP, Shiromani Akali Dal and Shiv Sena one each.

Importantly, NDA members have a majority in the panel.