New Delhi: Criticising the authorities on security issues, Tata Sons chief Ratan Tata today said the group would take steps to protect its assets and staff. Criticising the manner of handling the November 26 attacks, in which the group's landmark property Taj Hotel was also targeted, Tata said there was an issue of not having a single leader.
"There should be leadership in knowing what to do. The fire department didn't know what to do, the commandos came too late, the police were not equipped to engage," Tata said in a discussion organised by private news channel CNBC TV18.
He said the group has decided to "look at anti-terrorism or protection of assets and our people ourselves". Tata, however, said the group was not trying to create
heroes "who will engage in the enemies, but to try and find as many as invisible forms of deterring this (attacks), containing them or thwarting their efforts." Tata said the group would also engage and seek external expertise to help it.
Recollecting events and how ill-prepared the security agencies were, he said: "When the firing took place, for a period of time there was a view that it (the situation) was gangwar-like and the local police were to deal with it.
"I think in the Taj the first contingent of police came with three policemen and they were ill-equipped to handle them. In fact one of them got killed, the other got shot badly and one remained."
He said the naval commandos also reached the spot hours later, but "we had to go through the state machinery to get it and it was just not co-ordinated and easily accessible."
Emphasising the need to have a sound intelligence system to counter such attacks in future, Tata said: "You have to accept that if you can't just constantly react to something after it takes place; you got to look at creating a deterrent and that starts with good intelligence and sustained intelligence."
It starts with the ability to put into action a plan, Tata said.
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