Mumbai, Apr 23 (PTI) Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar on Wednesday alleged that the Pahalgam terror attack, in which at least 26 persons were killed, was a failure of intelligence agencies, and sought answers from the government.

He was speaking during a protest march organised by the Maharashtra Congress at Dadar in central Mumbai to condemn the terror attack.

The terror attack at a prime tourist location in Pahalgam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Tuesday left at least 26 people, mostly tourists, dead and several others injured.

“How did the intelligence agencies fail to detect such a major attack? This is a serious lapse on the part of the security apparatus. There was no security deployed around the tourists. The government must answer this and ensure elimination of terrorists,” Wadettiwar said.

State Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal, who led the protest, demanded strict action against the Pakistan-sponsored terrorists responsible for the attack and called for a permanent end to terrorism.

“The government must call an all-party meeting to arrive at a unanimous decision regarding the Pahalgam attack. A clear message should go out that no such terrorist act will be tolerated. In these difficult times, all Indians must unite and condemn this attack,” he said.

Before the protest march was taken out, a two-minute silence was observed at the Congress state headquarters, Tilak Bhavan, to pay tributes to the victims of the Pahalgam attack.

Chanting slogans like “Pakistan murdabad” and “Bharat Mata ki jai”, Congress workers denounced the terror attack in Pahalgam. PTI MR NP