Centre for greater efforts by police
R Dutta Choudhury
GUWAHATI, Sept 20 – The Centre is of the view that the State police forces should play a more proactive role to deal with militancy. A fully-computerised regional cooperation mechanism for the North East will become effective soon to improve coordination between police and security forces to deal with the problem of militancy.
Highly-placed official sources told The Assam Tribune that the need for the police forces to become more proactive to reduce dependence on Central forces was discussed in the recently concluded meeting of the police chiefs of all the States. Sources said that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is of the view that the State police forces are in a better position to deal with militancy because of the fact that the police personnel know the local situations and people and they should be in a better position to deal with the problems than the forces brought from other parts of the country. If the State police forces start playing a bigger role in dealing with militancy, it will also reduce dependence on the forces like Army and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), sources pointed out.
Sources revealed that the Centre is “very much concerned” with the security scenario in the North East, particularly in Assam and Manipur. In fact, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram also expressed their concern over the security scenario.
The MHA is of the view that there should be better coordination between the police and security forces operating in the North East states. Though a regional multi-agency centre with its headquarter in the office of the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau (SIB), Guwahati, is functioning, the MHA is of the view that there is a need for greater coordination. Of course, the existing system improved coordination between the police and security forces operating in the North East, which led to the arrest of a number of militant leaders. But the multi-agency centre holds meetings of the senior officials of police and security forces periodically, the MHA has decided to establish a fully computerized regional coordination mechanism with its hub in Guwahati to improve coordination.
Sources revealed that the regional coordination mechanism is likely to be headed by a senior officer of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the police forces of the States would enter the relevant information in the network and steps would be taken to ensure that all the information and leads entered in the network are followed up to their logical conclusion. The information fed in the system and the follow-up actions taken will also be monitored from Delhi daily to ensure that the system functions properly to deal with militancy, sources said.
Meanwhile, though the level of violence in Assam has come down in recent times, the Centre is still concerned with the situation as according to the MHA, militant groups like the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the anti-Talk faction of the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) still have the potential to carry out subversive activities. Sources said that the Centre is not keen on adopting a “short-sighted approach” and judge the situation with the level of violence of only a few months. “Assam witnessed a peaceful situation for quite some time before the serial blasts on October 30, which killed nearly a hundred persons. The MHA is getting reports that the ULFA and NDFB launched recruitment drives in some parts of the State to increase their strength and there is need for augmenting security measures to prevent attacks by the militant groups,” sources added.
R Dutta Choudhury
GUWAHATI, Sept 20 – The Centre is of the view that the State police forces should play a more proactive role to deal with militancy. A fully-computerised regional cooperation mechanism for the North East will become effective soon to improve coordination between police and security forces to deal with the problem of militancy.
Highly-placed official sources told The Assam Tribune that the need for the police forces to become more proactive to reduce dependence on Central forces was discussed in the recently concluded meeting of the police chiefs of all the States. Sources said that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is of the view that the State police forces are in a better position to deal with militancy because of the fact that the police personnel know the local situations and people and they should be in a better position to deal with the problems than the forces brought from other parts of the country. If the State police forces start playing a bigger role in dealing with militancy, it will also reduce dependence on the forces like Army and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), sources pointed out.
Sources revealed that the Centre is “very much concerned” with the security scenario in the North East, particularly in Assam and Manipur. In fact, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram also expressed their concern over the security scenario.
The MHA is of the view that there should be better coordination between the police and security forces operating in the North East states. Though a regional multi-agency centre with its headquarter in the office of the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau (SIB), Guwahati, is functioning, the MHA is of the view that there is a need for greater coordination. Of course, the existing system improved coordination between the police and security forces operating in the North East, which led to the arrest of a number of militant leaders. But the multi-agency centre holds meetings of the senior officials of police and security forces periodically, the MHA has decided to establish a fully computerized regional coordination mechanism with its hub in Guwahati to improve coordination.
Sources revealed that the regional coordination mechanism is likely to be headed by a senior officer of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the police forces of the States would enter the relevant information in the network and steps would be taken to ensure that all the information and leads entered in the network are followed up to their logical conclusion. The information fed in the system and the follow-up actions taken will also be monitored from Delhi daily to ensure that the system functions properly to deal with militancy, sources said.
Meanwhile, though the level of violence in Assam has come down in recent times, the Centre is still concerned with the situation as according to the MHA, militant groups like the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the anti-Talk faction of the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) still have the potential to carry out subversive activities. Sources said that the Centre is not keen on adopting a “short-sighted approach” and judge the situation with the level of violence of only a few months. “Assam witnessed a peaceful situation for quite some time before the serial blasts on October 30, which killed nearly a hundred persons. The MHA is getting reports that the ULFA and NDFB launched recruitment drives in some parts of the State to increase their strength and there is need for augmenting security measures to prevent attacks by the militant groups,” sources added.
No comments:
Post a Comment