Report on Intelligence in limbo

July 19, 2016 12:00 am | Updated 09:06 am IST - Kozhikode

Three years after the then ADGP (Intelligence) had put up a detailed report highlighting the need to revamp the intelligence gathering machinery to cope with the threats from ultra-Left wing and religious extremism, the State government has yet to act on it.

The report submitted by former State Police Chief T.P. Senkumar, who was also the ADGP (Intelligence) in 2013, had recommended that the government remodel the recruitment and functioning of the State Special Branch (SSB) on the lines of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) at the Centre.

P.K. Hormis Tharakan, former chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), says the State required a dedicated wing of competent officers for the intelligence work.

“The government has its own limitations. However, what could be done or reworked is selecting officers with an intelligence gathering aptitude, maintaining tenure for them and providing specialised training in intelligence. Even if the officers are shifted to other wings, the government should retain the core group,” Mr. Tharakan said.

This aspect has now assumed significance in the context of the department having been caught napping in the mysterious disappearance of at least 17 people from the State who are suspected to have joined the Islamic State fighters.

Top police sources told The Hindu that the report had also proposed that 50 per cent of the SSB officers should be directly recruited and imparted training exclusively in intelligence gathering and analytical skills. Only the remaining personnel should be drawn from the different government departments. The report had also proposed the creation of a separate cadre of officers giving them timely promotions and special incentives for intelligence gathering. Significantly, the report had been prepared on the fact that only 40 per cent of the actual actionable intelligence gathering came from the police stations or auxiliary departments. Sixty per cent were either sourced or obtained from external means, the senior officer said.

However, Mr. Tharakan disagreed with the postulation that the SSB was caught napping in the case of the missing youths from Kasaragod and Palakkad.

“Such failures are a general phenomenon worldwide. A tendency towards radicalisation is seen globally. Knee- jerk reactions would not solve the issue,” he said.

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