Mumbai, Feb 16 (DC): The Pulwama terror attack has shown that it is now time to penetrate into Pakistan directly, said Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday.

"This is not just a terrorist attack but an incursion of our intelligence agencies. If India had no prior information about such a major attack, then the question arises. What is the role of the intelligence agencies? If an intelligence failure led to the terrorist attack on the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy then those who were in charge should be removed," Uddhav Thackeray said while speaking to media persons on the ghastly terror attack on CRPF convoy in Pulwama, Jammu, and Kashmir.

"After surgical strikes of 2016, it is now time to penetrate into Pakistan directly," he added.

Appealing the whole nation to stand together against Pakistan, Thackrey said: "In the whole country, people should come together to tell Pakistan that our country will not bend and we will teach them a lesson. Those who are in powers, if they do not understand what they are doing then they should be removed from their positions. We had made surgical strikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir but now have to penetrate into Pakistan directly."

"Elections and every other thing is secondary but it is most important to give a tit-for-tat response to Pakistan," he added. As many as 40 CRPF personnel were killed after a suicide bomber attacked a CRPF convoy in Pulwama district with a vehicle laden with explosives.

The convoy comprised 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were traveling from Jammu to Srinagar. The slain CRPF personnel were traveling in a bus which came under the terror attack.

JeM, a Pakistan-based terrorist group, has claimed the responsibility for the attack which left the bus extensively damaged.