NEW DELHI: Central and state law agencies engaged in the fight against terror on Friday agreed on the need to shift towards firmer and more collaborative efforts, backed by a standardised strategy, to counter terrorism in all its forms, particularly cybercrime and financial terrorism.
At the end of a two-day anti-terror conference organised by NIA in New Delhi , there was broad consensus that Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, though a powerful legal tool to tackle terror, should be invoked carefully and judiciously to avoid potential misuse and to retain its effectiveness in combating terrorism.
The participants, comprising 39 heads of central and state police entities and 150 delegates from across the country, concurred on the need for a holistic and well-rounded strategy to deal with terrorism, encompassing the country’s entire counter-terror framework extending from govt down to the police station level.
In his concluding remarks, home secretary Govind Mohan urged state police forces to engage in capacity-building to effectively combat terrorism. He urged states to send competent officers to NIA, and added that this would not only help steer the agency’s growth but also enrich the investigation culture back home when these officers return to their state cadre.
NIA will be conducting several more capacity building sessions for states, he announced, adding that more NFSU campuses and CFSLs were also in the pipeline to promote the quality of digital evidence and secure conviction in terror cases.
While underlining the role of Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) in dealing with financial-and cyber-related crimes in a coordinated manner, Mohan echoed home minister Amit Shah’s views on the need for all police and investigative agencies and forces to share information in real time.
Participants engaged in thematic sessions on topics like ‘prosecution and evolving legal framework in counter-terror (CT) investigations’, ‘significant case studies in terror investigations’, ’emerging technologies’, ‘dismantling terror ecosystem’ and ‘comprehensive CT strategies’.
The police heads called for global cooperation to tackle the misuse of social media by terrorists amid divergent content moderation policies. The session on case studies in terror investigations discussed the Rameshwaram Cafe blast probe, in which central agencies and various state police forces had worked together to crack the case. In the backdrop of emerging technologies, the need for pooling of resources to overcome cyber and tech constraints was highlighted.
Union home minister Amit Shah during the ‘3rd Anti-terror Conference’ hosted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), in New Delhi (Pic credit: PTI)
