Haryana Police to set up anti-terrorist cell

Haryana Police will soon set up an Anti-Terrorist Cell to check terrorist activity in the National Capital Region. Though the proposal was pending with the state government's Home Department, the police -- after the busting of a white-collar terror module in which several doctors are under the scanner -- approached the government again to set up the cell. Now, the discussion is at an advanced stage.

About 15 people were killed in a blast near the Red Fort and the roles of several doctors linked to the Al Falah University of Faridabad and Kashmir are under the scanner of the probe agencies. There was a seizure of 2,900 kg explosives from two rooms in Faridabad.

Earlier, intelligence gathering on terrorist activity in Haryana Police was with the CID. But the anti-terrorist cell will conduct operations and investigations, as well as intelligence gathering. “Our idea is to scan cyberspace and physical space for tell-tale signs. The anti-terrorist cell will develop leads, investigate and carry out operations,” said Director General of Police (DGP) OP Singh.

After a huge explosives recovery from Faridabad and blast near the Red Fort in Delhi, the DGP had held a meeting of Haryana Police officials and representatives from Uttar Pradesh Police and Delhi Police. As similar units are functional in Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana DGP fast-tracked the formation of the anti-terrorist cell.

“Our focus will be on the National Capital Region (NCR). Fourteen districts of Haryana fall in the NCR, including Faridabad, Gurugram, Sonepat and Jhajjar. There are more than 150 police stations in the NCR, and two security agents are usually assigned to each. We have decided to dedicate one security agent from each police station to intelligence gathering related to terrorist activity,” said OP Singh. These security agents will further report to a senior officer who will task them every morning. “For operations, we have 500 commandos at our disposal,” the DGP added.

On November 18, the DGP had visited Al Falah university in Faridabad and had spent four hours. “We spoke with security personnel, administrative officials, faculty, students, nearby villagers and the family of the mosque's cleric. Later, we held a joint meeting with the DC and CP, asking them to personally visit the site, lead from the front and find faculty members who are still missing since the incident,” said the DGP.