NIA for Bengaluru not a bad idea, say cops

The state police are burdened with security and law-and-order duties, and it makes sense for the specialist National Investigation Agency to tackle terror cases, they say

After Tejasvi Surya, MP from Bengaluru South, described Bengaluru as a ‘terror hub’, the Centre has promised to set up a branch of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) office in the city.

No terror incident has been reported in the city since 2014, when a bomb went off near Coconut Grove restaurant on Church Street. But many senior policemen say Bengaluru could do with an additional agency keeping its eyes and ears open. “The situation is not alarming, but Bengaluru is always on the radar for terror attacks, after Delhi and Mumbai. So, it is important that the NIA set up shop here,” a prominent police officer involved in anti-terror operations told Metrolife.

The state police are always burdened with security and law and order. Key personnel are transferred frequently, and all these factors hamper terror investigations, he believes.

Wider reach

“Information transfer takes time. A file takes its own time to move from Delhi to Karnataka, but the NIA can get it faster because of its pan-Indian reach,” explains the officer. Even if the NIA is not free of political interference, it is free of at least 50 per cent interference because it deals with the state and the Centre. However, these agencies must find a way of avoiding all political interference, he says. NIA personnel are trained to understand how bombs and explosives work, and know how to examine a terror scene for clues. Their ability to speak different languages is an added skill, he says.

Is Bengaluru a target?

A senior officer with the intelligence wing of the Karnataka police says the NIA is networked extensively with other agencies across the country. “They are prepared to handle technical and ground intelligence and intelligence from sleeper cells. They know how to get first-hand information. Bengaluru is a target because it is an IT hub,” he says.

Wider reach

The state police may have to travel from one state to another, establish contacts and then start collecting information, but the NIA works undercover and shadows persons and outfits more effectively, he says. The NIA does not require any special permission to move from one state to another. “They have a pan-India reach and their staff are well-versed in many languages,” he says.

Specialised training

Another senior officer says that NIA officers are adept at tracking crime syndicates and any trail of money, drugs and arms. “They know how to catch individuals harbouring and abetting terror. The NIA also understands how social media and sleeping cells are used to further terror agendas,” explains the officer.

Easy connectivity

Terror groups use sleeper cells in cities and towns close to Bengaluru, such as Ramanagara, Hosur, Tumakuru and Mysuru.

A top officer with the Karnataka police says terror groups were active in the 1990s and set off a series of blasts in Bengaluru in 2008. However, he believes there is no immediate provocation to set up an NIA branch in the city.

“These terror outfits don’t have a permanent structure and change their colours, according to the change in the political and social situation of the country,” he explains. The local police understand local dynamics and have certain advantages over the NIA. They are a repository of information and men on the ground develop domain expertise over the years. The NIA is better equipped to deal with trans-border groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Al Ummah, he says.

NIA advantages

• Pan-Indian presence, so no special permissions required.
• Understand how bombs and explosives work.
• Can shadow suspects more anonymously than local police.
• Staff speak multiple languages, and are tech savvy.

Politics of terror

A senior political analyst sees a larger political pattern in Tejasvi Surya’s statement. He says the country is going through a phase in which an aggressive anti-minority line is being pursued. “This is a particularly anti-Muslim wave and every possible institution is being used to target the community. There is also an attempt to convert Karnataka, particularly Bengaluru, into a Hindu-Muslim conflict zone just to divert the attention from the core issues,” he says. He believes the idea is to “assert dominance and threaten the minorities.”

Terror cases in Bengaluru over the years

2005: At the sylvan Indian Institute of Science (IISc), a man opened fire at a conference on December 28, killing Prof Munish Chandra Puri of IIT Delhi and injuring four others. Police said it was a terror attack, making it the first such attack in Bengaluru.

2008: Nine bombs exploded in Adugodi, Madiwala, Ashok Nagar, Byatarayanapura, Sampangirama Nagar, Kengeri, and Koramangala on July 25. One person was killed and 20 injured.

2010: On April 17, two bombs exploded at a heavily packed M Chinnaswamy Stadium. They left 15 people injured, on the day of a high-profile cricket match.
Police say the blasts were caused by low-intensity crude bombs triggered with the help of timers.

2013: On April 17, a bomb went off in front of the BJP office in Malleswaram. Mohammed Ali Khan, founding member of Al-Umma, a banned terrorist organisation, prime accused, has been arrested.

2014: On December 28, a low-intensity bomb exploded near Coconut Grove restaurant on Church Street.