Terrorism - Articles

Poor Policing and Weak Intelligence Gathering

On 3 October 2007 the Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil outlined some crucial concerns in the fight against terrorism in New Delhi, at the conference of Directors-General and Inspectors-General of Police, like low police-population ratio, inadequate strength and inefficiency of the intelligence agencies in the states, and presence of terrorist sleeper cells in mega cities.

The police-population ratio in India is very poor at 1:728, it was 1:600 as mentioned by the Home Minister in August 2005 to Parliament, with women constables constituting only 2.5 per cent of that number. The all-India average police-population ratio stands at 122 per 100,000, which is much lower than the UN norm of 222 per 100,000 (1:450). Most western countries have ratios between 250 and 500 per 100,000. Russia has a ratio of 1:82 and Australia 1:439. While Pakistan has a ratio of 1:625, Japan and Singapore have 1:563 and 1:295 respectively. Even developing countries like Thailand with 1:228 have a much better ratio than India.

Inadequate strength of the intelligence agencies is another impediment in most Indian states due to vacant positions not being filled for years. Police personnel on intelligence duties are estimated to comprise only 1% to 1.5% of the total police force. For example, in Uttar Pradesh only 1,500 policemen are on intelligence gathering jobs. The efficiency of the Local Intelligence Bureaus in the states needs immediate improvement to deal with the menace of terrorist attacks and understand their modus operandi to prevent such attacks. Apart from strengthening the Special Branches in states, replacing the much-needed Police Act of 1861 with a new one, which could meet the growing challenges to policing, was also sought.

Though the National Police Commission (1977) had recommended a Model Police Act to replace the ancient Police Act of 1861, there is no political will to implement it. The Supreme Court directive (22 September 2006) directed the Centre and States to create a National Police Commission and State Security Commission to improve the overall functioning of the police. According to the "Report to the People - UPA Government, 2004-07,", the government has approved 79 battalions to strengthen internal security and improve the police-population ratio. Apart from restructuring the CISF and CRPF for better performance, 20,000 new posts were created for these two forces.

The 59-page paper on "Internal Security Situation" issued by the Union Home Ministry in March this year reveals that terrorist violence in Jammu & Kashmir has shown "significant improvement", in the Northeast states it finds a "marginal increase", and Naxal violence in six states. But terrorist attacks in other parts of India are negligible as noticed in a small chapter "Terrorist Violence in Hinterland." The paper recommends "measures taken to meet the challenges", and asks the states to strengthen their local capabilities through Police Modernization (PM) and Security Related Expenditure (SRE) apart from revamping the Special Forces.

Most terrorist financing in India occurs through informal channels, including hawala; hence the use of fake currency is a cause of concern. The sleeper cells, which are often funded with fake currency, have the capacity to become active at will. These cells have developed an effective mechanism to escape the attention of intelligence agencies. India has set up a Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, in March 2006 to counter fake currency. It sifts through suspicious transaction, but it lacks staff and adequate support from other domestic law enforcement agencies.

According to the draft report of the Counter Terrorism Committee of the UN Security Council, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has developed measures to protect the financial system from being used to fund terrorism, including bringing authorized money changers under a regulatory mechanism. However, RBI guidelines do not extend to institutions beyond the scope of its mandate; hence these institutions are sometimes subject to lower regulatory standards. This report adds that Indian states do not have specialized units to analyze threats. It recommends that India should consider allowing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to handle more counter-terrorism cases.

The Hindustan Times (11 September, 2007) reported that India has witnessed over 70,000 deaths, including that of 11,000 security personnel - more than in all the wars fought since Independence - killed by terrorists. With the most sophisticated technologies being available to terrorists, fighting terrorism has become an increasingly difficult task for India. It becomes even more challenging when states lack specialized police forces, effective intelligence mechanisms, and cutting-edge technology. Only a trained police force in adequate numbers with timely intelligence inputs can fight the menace of terrorism. The citizens' role is equally important, and the Home Minister has proposed the creation of civil defense units for local policing, while suggesting the need for security committees in the villages.