Why did the Indian security forces and RAW fail to prevent the 26/11 Mumbai attack?

 The Indian Intelligence and RAW received numerous intels of an attack on India but it was the lack of coordination that allowed the 26/11 attacks to happen. Like how it’s shown in Dhurandhar, the 26/11 was supposed to be in September-October 2008 as told by David Headley. But due to logistical delays it got postponed. It’s highly possible that an Indian spy told the Indian Intelligence about the attacks and that’s why it was postponed. In September 2008, RAW intercepted a phone call between the LeT handlers in Pakistan. The conversations explicitly mentioned to attack the sea facing locations in Mumbai. In the same month, the American Intelligence told India about an upcoming target specifically on the Taj Palace, Mumbai. The security was tightened inside the palace but when nothing happened, it was loosened shortly before 26 November. The European intelligence specifically the British intelligence also informed India by tracking Zarrar Shah and Headley’s trail in Europe.

On 19 November, RAW intercepted that a fresh vessel from Karachi was moving towards India however the location of the vessel couldn’t be locked down. Seperate intelligence fragments suggested that LeT was undergoing maritime training in Pakistan. The attacks happened because the intel was separate and the coordination between the RAW, IB and the Mumbai police was never aggregated to deduce an attack on Mumbai. Aftermath the 26/11, in December 2008, the NIA was formed which also dismantled and is handling the case of Kanhaiya Lal. Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI also had a huge a huge hand in 26/11 and for that, Pakistan was heavily condemned. The Al-Qaeda and LeT also were planning to attack Delhi that was supposed to be much worse than 26/11. The 26/11 was a prime example of Pakistan’s bleed India with a thousand cuts as Mumbai is India’s financial capital and derail India’s economic momentum and foreign direct investment. By targeting the foreign nationals in the attacks, Pakistan wanted to cause a conflict between India and other nations and also defame the Hindus by framing the attacks as Hindu terror and to trigger a civil war in India.

Was Ajit Doval in Raw?

 Ajit Doval is the National Security Adviser and a retired intelligence officer. He is known as the James Bond of India. He was born on 20 January, 1945 in Garhwal. He completed his education in Delhi and Pune before attending the Ajmer Military School. In 1967, he received his Master’s degree from the Agra university in Economics with distinction and top position. In 1990, he completed an advanced strategic and military training curriculum from the National Defence College in Delhi. In 1968, after clearing the civil services examinations, he became an IPS and was assigned to the Kerala cadre. In 1972, he was transferred into the Intelligence Bureau where he spent three decades. Doval spent six years as an undercover spy in Pakistan. He infiltrated the Mizo National Front breaking the back of insurgency. He played an important role in the field operations leading up to the merger of Sikkim with India.

In 1988, in the Operation Black Thunder, he posed as a Pakistani agent infiltrating the Golden temple in Amritsar to map out the positions of extremists inside neutralising the threat with minimum damage. For this, he became the first police officer to be awarded the Kirti Chakra. In 1999, he was an important negotiator in the Kandahar hijack. In 2004, he was appointed the director of the Intelligence Bureau and retired from his service in 2005. In 2009, he founded the Vivekananda International Foundation and in 2014, he was appointed as the National Security Adviser by Modi Ji. Till 2014 till present, he has served as the NSA. He supervised the 2015 Myanmar cross border operation, 2016 surgical strikes, 2019 Balakot airstrikes, 2017 Doklam border stand off and an attempt to catch Dawood Ibrahim.