Intelligence gathering and sharing mechanisms developed during the UPA regime are delivering results for the BJP government which has seen a fall in terror incidents in Jammu and Kashmir.
After initial hiccups and reluctance in sharing intelligence inputs and details of investigations by law enforcement agencies, the Intelligence Bureau has been able to boost counter terror operations and subsequent investigations through its national database of all terrorists in the country. The database also has details of Left wing extremists, north east insurgent groups and others. These details are now being made available at the district level, too, where analysing inputs on the ground becomes crucial.
The multi-agency centre under the IB has set up its units in several districts after building a countrywide network through its subsidiary units in states. “The Mac is setting up district units and the work is nearly complete,” said a government official. The National Memory Bank is part of it.
Any police unit just has to type the name of a terror suspect in the system and the memory bank will show whether any case is registered against him in the country. Search further, the system will throw up the cases under which he is wanted and if the police force wants more details of his interrogation and other crucial investigation details, it can request the feeder agency.
The memory bank has interrogation reports running into thousands, with Jammu and Kashmir police providing the maximum names and case details. More than 1,000 names and interrogation reports have been provided by Jammu and Kashmir, sources said.
These details of terrorists’ interrogation reports and organisational structures have been put together with inbuilt security features that show names and basic details of a terrorist, giving the feeder agency exclusive right on its investigation details which are shared only after a formal request is made by the user agency at any given time. It may be recalled that the proposal to set up a national counter terrorism centre was shelved due to federal concerns raised by states during the Congress regime. But government sources said all state police forces are on board for sharing details of terrorists, their interrogation in a National Memory Bank giving a boost to state police forces who used to find it difficult to glean details of any terror suspect at large or even after he was apprehended.
The memory bank was set up during the UPA regime when the multi agency centre was revived to share intelligence inputs post 26/11.
