West Bengal to get grassroots eyes & ears

KOLKATA: In line with the central intelligence agencies like Intelligence Bureau (IB), Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau (SIB) or Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the Mamata Banerjee government has decided to start its own intelligence agency — ‘Local Intelligence Unit’ (LIU).
This district-level intelligence wing will be responsible for gathering information at the grassroot level which will help the government in formulating different policies and provide information about terrorist and subversive activities going on in the state.
Three such units have already started functioning in three bordering districts from December 8 on an experimental basis. According to the state home department officials, though some units have started functioning, officers and personnel are taken from different departments on deputation.
“As these units will have a different functional mechanism and different pay structure, the state government is likely to bring a bill in this regard in the next assembly session. Once it is approved, the units will be operational officially,” an official said.
Sources said the need for this kind of an agency was first felt after the Khagragarh blast where the district administration had no information about the terrorist activities. In July, after an administrative meeting at North 24-Parganas where the CM decided on a clampdown on illegal cross-border smuggling, the CID was asked to find out the impediments in tackling cross-border terrorism and smuggling. In a detailed report submitted to the state home department in September, the state investigation agency said in most of the cases the sources — of both BSF and district police — are the smugglers. Naturally, to get information, the security agencies will have to provide some liberty to them and that is the prime reason behind this continuous smuggling coupled with infiltration of terrorists in the state.
“The chief minister then decided to form this new agency that will concentrate only on information collection, establish connection with the common people and build up of ground level sources,” a home department source said.