Punjab has no anti-terror squad in case of a strike

The police have three squads under the Intelligence Wing, but these are basically intelligence gathering agencies. For instance, the Counter Intelligence Wing, which has 35 units in the state, with some 200 personnel and three SPs posted in Chandigarh, collects terrorist-related intelligence. The Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) deals with intelligence gathering and collects interrogation reports of militants, sends alerts and shares information with other units. The Special Technical Group (STG) provides technical support such as tapping mobile phones. It has

some 10 people with a DSP in charge. All these units are under the DIG (Counter Intelligence).

Besides, there are two more units — State Multi-Agency Centre (SMAC) and Inter-State Intelligence Swift Team — which liaison with other states and the intelligence bureau.

In case of any terrorist activity, operations in the state are carried out by the district police concerned under the supervision of the SSPs. The intelligence wing supports them with information and other technical support. Also, there are commando battalions of the state police, but due to lack of proper training, these are hardly effective.

There is an STF in the intelligence wing of the state police, but it has only eight persons under it. It is headed by a DIG in the intelligence wing who does administration work; under him is an AIG (Counter Intelligence), a sub-inspector and a few constables who tabulate data on proclaimed offenders (POs) collected from across the state.

A senior police official, admitting that there is no anti-terrorist squad with the state police, said, “We not need one as our officers have dealt with terrorism directly and they know how to handle it.’’ He cited the Ludhiana blast incident, where the district police, with the help of intelligence, nabbed the militants.