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Journalism of Courage
After the November 23 serial blasts on court premises in Lucknow, Faizabad and Varanasi, the Mayawati Government in Uttar Pradesh has stepped up efforts to detect terror modules in the state.
The Government’s desperate attempt to take control of the situation was evident with the Chief Minister directing for immediate measures to spruce up the state’s intelligence unit. She announced her decision to create an Anti-Terrorists Squad (ATS) within no time, and has also separated the intelligence wing from the civil police. The proposal for the creation of an ATS in UP has been pending for a few years.
The ATS will be engaged more in analysing intelligent inputs than in undertaking operations. “We need to build a strong foundation for information collection. We would appoint youths who have a scientific temperament and computer knowledge,” said J N Chamber, principal secretary (Home). Sources in the state Government disclosed that the ATS would comprise 260 policemen, including three IPS-rank officers, four additional SP rank officers and nine deputy SP rank officers.
“The STF banked on intelligence inputs from the Central Intelligence Bureau. Now the ATS will have its own actionable intelligence before engaging the STF in operation,” a source said. This means the ATS will be in a position to exchange information with the IB. It will collect information from the state Intelligence wing and IB, besides the STF, which used to coordinate with the IB earlier. It will also coordinate with other agencies like the CBI. “The information system of the Centre is indeed very good. The CBI provides us a booklet about arrests of terrorists across the country. It also contains information about terrorist links in states. The ATS will do a research on the information to pave way for STF operation,” the source said.
The Government has, in fact, also strengthened the STF by dividing it on the basis of two zones — East UP and West UP. Both zones, sources said, have emerged as hubs of terror. The principal secretary claimed the mechanism will start delivering results in six months. “More personnel will be recruited for the intelligence wing. Posts for research scientists will also be created,” he said.
