New Delhi: Various central and state agencies besides police forces agreed on the need for stronger collaborative efforts backed by a standardised strategy to combat terrorism, particularly with respect to cybercrime during a two-day anti-terror conference organised by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which concluded on Friday.
The conference focused on the need for a unified approach to deal with terrorism across states in the interest of national security, according to an official statement.
Consensus emerged during the sessions on the importance of a holistic, well-rounded strategy, encompassing the entire national framework extending from the government down to the lowest levels of policing and investigation, it said.
“The National Investigation Agency’s (NIA’s) two-day Anti-Terror Conference concluded on Friday with a consensus among various central and state agencies and police forces on the need for stronger collaborative efforts backed by a standardized strategy to combat the menace of terrorism, particularly with respect to cybercrime and financial terrorism,” the statement said.
There was a broad consensus that while Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UA(P)A is a powerful legal tool to tackle terror, it should be applied carefully and judiciously to avoid potential misuse and ensure its effectiveness in combating terrorism, it said.
“Participants called for global cooperation to tackle misuse of social media by terrorists amid divergent content moderation policies. The session on case studies in terror investigations proved to be an extremely interesting aspect of the conference, with most participants keenly following the narrative of the high-profile (Bengaluru’s) Rameshwaram Café blast,” said the statement issued by the NIA.
The event was marked by the unveiling of the NIA’s motto by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who additionally launched the Handbook of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) specifically designed for investigations under the UA(P) Act, the statement said.
The tone of the event, which saw intense discussions on key terror related topics and concerns through five thematic sessions, was set by Shah at the start of the conference on Thursday.
Shah had announced several far-reaching measures to make India’s anti-terror fight more impactful. The Ministry of Home Affairs, he announced, will soon formulate a national counter-terrorism policy and strategy to fight the entire ‘ecosystem’ of terrorism, the statement said.
Underlining the government’s commitment to creating a strong ecosystem against terrorism and eliminating it, he had emphasised the need for adoption of a coordinated approach, from police stations up to Director General of Police (DGP) office, to deal with new challenges like terror financing and crypto.
Shah also pushed for transformation of the “need to know” approach into a “need to share” and ultimately a “duty to share” culture in order to foster a robust ecosystem against terrorism.
To win the fight against terrorism, a “Whole of Government Approach” is essential, he stressed, pinpointing the need to create an integrated, actionable system.
Urging all states to consider the fight against terrorism as their own, Shah had said, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry of Home Affairs will create an ecosystem with a strong resolve to fight terrorism, deliver results, and successfully root out this menace.
In his concluding remarks on Friday evening, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan called for enhanced capacity building at the state level to fight terrorism.
He urged the states to send competent officers to the NIA and said 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 states.
The NIA’s growing importance in the emerging security environment was highlighted by both the Union Home Minister and the Union Home Secretary during their speeches.
It is worth mentioning that the NIA has delivered a remarkable conviction rate of 95.14 per cent with 499 charge sheets filed, at the back of the adoption of advanced, cutting-edge technologies to enhance investigative methodologies, strengthening the agency’s capacity to counter emerging threats, the statement said.
The inaugural session was attended by 39 heads of state police/central police organisations (CPOs)/central armed police forces (CAPFs) in addition to over 150 delegates from 29 states/UT police and 31 central organisations who attended the two-day conference.
In the backdrop of the emerging technologies, the conference underscored the need for unified frameworks to tackle the resultant challenges, it said, adding that the need for pooling of resources to overcome cyber and tech constraints was sharply highlighted during the sessions.
