Samjhauta blast highlights need of federal agency
It could be the ideal case why terror-related crimes should be classified as federal crimes and investigated by an independent federal law enforcement agency.
By Bharti Jain, TNN |
NEW DELHI: It could be the ideal case why terror-related crimes should be classified as federal crimes and investigated by an independent federal law enforcement agency, modelled on the FBI of the US, rather than by the financially and technically ill-equipped state police. The Samjhauta blasts investigations, more than six months later, are yet to throw up a definite lead as a resources and expertise-starved Haryana police struggles to piece together the jigsaw puzzle that features both inter-state and international linkages.
The Union home ministry has been mounting pressure on the state government to hand over the case to the CBI, more competent both in terms of resources as well as professional expertise, but the state government is not willing do so. Given that laws do not empower the Centre to order a CBI probe unless a request is made by the state government concerned, the Samjhauta probe is languishing and the terror perpetrators continue to be scot-free.
Most terror attacks in the hinterland, according to intelligence inputs, are planned by Pakistan-based masterminds owing allegiance to Lashker e Taiba or Jaish e Mohammad, hardware sourced from another state and bombs assembled and planted by different modules who have no communication between one another. This helps the terror outfits maintain foolproof secrecy of the plot until its execution. Also, the LeT, JeM and Huji have managed to cultivate local contacts, networking with local groups like Simi, and are increasingly employing them for execution of terror attacks in the hinterland.
The local component helps the international terror groups insulate themselves against blame as well as international pressure and camouflage external linkages pointing to Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The pattern was meticulously followed in the Samjhauta blasts, which happened on a train connecting Delhi and Lahore. The terrorists are said to have received instructions from their Pakistani masters to blow up the bogies. It is believed that the bombers sneaked into the country through the Pakistan or Bangladesh border and, along with local operatives, recceed the target, planted the bombs on the train at its starting point in Delhi and quietly escaped shortly before the blasts to wipe off any trail.
Given the international linkages as well as inter-state ramifications of the Samjhauta probe, it comes as little surprise that the investigations by an ill-equipped Haryana police have virtually come to a nought. In fact, the MHA has been pressuring the state government to hand over the case to the CBI.
The CBI is already investigating the Malegaon blasts, in which it has already filed a chargesheet, as well as the more recent Mecca Masjid attack.
However, the CBI, already overburdened with cases, may find it difficult to regularly handle investigations into terror attacks. Besides, the Centre is totally dependent on a request from the state government for entrusting an investigation to the CBI and cannot do so on its own. It thus makes sense to classify certain crimes like terrorism, organised crime, narcotics trafficking etc as federal crimes and empower the Centre to investigate them right away without looking at the states for a requisition.
The roadblock, however, are the states themselves. Chained by the narrow mindset that a federal law enforcement agency would be an encroachment on their exclusive “law and order” turf, the state governments continue to resist the proposal. Unfortunately, the same states, when subjected to terror attacks, don’t bat an eyelid while complaining about the Centre’s failure to warn them or take preventive action.
The Union home ministry has been mounting pressure on the state government to hand over the case to the CBI, more competent both in terms of resources as well as professional expertise, but the state government is not willing do so. Given that laws do not empower the Centre to order a CBI probe unless a request is made by the state government concerned, the Samjhauta probe is languishing and the terror perpetrators continue to be scot-free.
Most terror attacks in the hinterland, according to intelligence inputs, are planned by Pakistan-based masterminds owing allegiance to Lashker e Taiba or Jaish e Mohammad, hardware sourced from another state and bombs assembled and planted by different modules who have no communication between one another. This helps the terror outfits maintain foolproof secrecy of the plot until its execution. Also, the LeT, JeM and Huji have managed to cultivate local contacts, networking with local groups like Simi, and are increasingly employing them for execution of terror attacks in the hinterland.
The local component helps the international terror groups insulate themselves against blame as well as international pressure and camouflage external linkages pointing to Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The pattern was meticulously followed in the Samjhauta blasts, which happened on a train connecting Delhi and Lahore. The terrorists are said to have received instructions from their Pakistani masters to blow up the bogies. It is believed that the bombers sneaked into the country through the Pakistan or Bangladesh border and, along with local operatives, recceed the target, planted the bombs on the train at its starting point in Delhi and quietly escaped shortly before the blasts to wipe off any trail.
Given the international linkages as well as inter-state ramifications of the Samjhauta probe, it comes as little surprise that the investigations by an ill-equipped Haryana police have virtually come to a nought. In fact, the MHA has been pressuring the state government to hand over the case to the CBI.
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The CBI is already investigating the Malegaon blasts, in which it has already filed a chargesheet, as well as the more recent Mecca Masjid attack.
However, the CBI, already overburdened with cases, may find it difficult to regularly handle investigations into terror attacks. Besides, the Centre is totally dependent on a request from the state government for entrusting an investigation to the CBI and cannot do so on its own. It thus makes sense to classify certain crimes like terrorism, organised crime, narcotics trafficking etc as federal crimes and empower the Centre to investigate them right away without looking at the states for a requisition.
The roadblock, however, are the states themselves. Chained by the narrow mindset that a federal law enforcement agency would be an encroachment on their exclusive “law and order” turf, the state governments continue to resist the proposal. Unfortunately, the same states, when subjected to terror attacks, don’t bat an eyelid while complaining about the Centre’s failure to warn them or take preventive action.
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