India
Nia: NIA to set up joint mechanism with Punjab, Haryana & Chandigarh police to dismantle criminal gangs ‘eco-system’ | India News
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NEW DELHI: Stepping up its crackdown on organised gangs and criminal syndicates operating across north India, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday said it will tie up with the police forces of Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh to establish an institutionalised mechanism for regular sharing of actionable inputs as well as for planning and executing coordinated operations to dismantle the gangster “eco-system”.
NIA and the three police forces have decided to constitute a ‘joint listing committee’ to identify leaders, members, financiers, weapons suppliers and facilitators of gangs and criminal syndicates, largely run by kingpins lodged in jails with the help of associates based both in India and abroad, and dove-tail strategies to net each of them in a time-bound manner. A monthly meeting of all stakeholders will henceforth review the actions taken over the past month against the gangs and criminal syndicates, share inputs for synergised operations and review the emerging trends in modus operandi of the gangs for fine-tuning the counter-action.
All these decisions emerged from a high-level, inter-state coordination meeting chaired by NIA DG Dinkar Gupta on Friday at Panchkula, Haryana. The meeting, the second such session held by Gupta with the DGPs and senior officials of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh police, discussed the activities of leaders and members of organised criminal syndicates operating in the northern states and the ongoing criminal investigations against them.
Underscoring the need for collaborative action among NIA and the three police forces, Gupta, while addressing the meeting, called for enhanced cooperation and information sharing among them to effectively address the growing threat posed by organised criminal gangs in the northern region.
NIA, which is investigating three cases involving criminal-terrorist-gangster networks, shared its findings and observations on the methodology adopted by the syndicates operating from jails. It emphasised the need for fast tracking of trials against the gangsters and the need for a witness protection plan. The Central agency exhorted the three police forces to focus on attaching properties of the gangsters. The need to legally pursue the extradition or deportation of gangsters based abroad was also discussed.
A senior IPS officer told TOI that the purpose of the joint listing committee – which will have representatives of NIA and the police forces of Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh – is to “categorise the gangsters — something like the system of classifying terrorists into ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ category based on their training level and past record – and prepare separate lists of the gang leaders, members, foreign-based associates, arms and weapons suppliers, financiers, foot soldiers, harbourers and businesses providing support, and accordingly strategise how to deal with them,” said the officer.
The committee will map the entire network of the various criminal syndicates active in the northern states, based on which joint action will be planned and executed by NIA and the concerned state/UT police.
“Rather than coordinating on a one-off basis, new information on gangs will now be shared through a structured mechanism and in real time. The DIGs and concerned SPs etc will get together each month to review actions and strategies and discuss any new actionable inputs or trends. The discussions may be both at the higher level and the operational level,” said an officer.
While addressing the meeting, Haryana DGP P K Agrawal underlined the urgency of taking swift and decisive action to dismantle the gangster networks. Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav said international liaison and cooperation with the foreign law enforcement agencies is essential to extradite and deport active leaders and members based abroad.
Chandigarh police chief Praveer Ranjan highlighted the need for inter-state coordination and joint operations among the affected states. Representatives from various agencies presented their findings and insights into the ongoing investigations during the meeting. Officials from the NIA, Haryana Police, Punjab Police, and Chandigarh Police made presentations and shared information regarding the operations, modus operandi, and key individuals associated with these criminal syndicates.
The focus of the discussions was on devising strategies to disrupt the activities of organised criminal syndicates, strengthening intelligence sharing mechanisms, and coordination of efforts to apprehend the individuals involved in these unlawful activities.
NIA and the three police forces have decided to constitute a ‘joint listing committee’ to identify leaders, members, financiers, weapons suppliers and facilitators of gangs and criminal syndicates, largely run by kingpins lodged in jails with the help of associates based both in India and abroad, and dove-tail strategies to net each of them in a time-bound manner. A monthly meeting of all stakeholders will henceforth review the actions taken over the past month against the gangs and criminal syndicates, share inputs for synergised operations and review the emerging trends in modus operandi of the gangs for fine-tuning the counter-action.
All these decisions emerged from a high-level, inter-state coordination meeting chaired by NIA DG Dinkar Gupta on Friday at Panchkula, Haryana. The meeting, the second such session held by Gupta with the DGPs and senior officials of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh police, discussed the activities of leaders and members of organised criminal syndicates operating in the northern states and the ongoing criminal investigations against them.
Underscoring the need for collaborative action among NIA and the three police forces, Gupta, while addressing the meeting, called for enhanced cooperation and information sharing among them to effectively address the growing threat posed by organised criminal gangs in the northern region.
NIA, which is investigating three cases involving criminal-terrorist-gangster networks, shared its findings and observations on the methodology adopted by the syndicates operating from jails. It emphasised the need for fast tracking of trials against the gangsters and the need for a witness protection plan. The Central agency exhorted the three police forces to focus on attaching properties of the gangsters. The need to legally pursue the extradition or deportation of gangsters based abroad was also discussed.
A senior IPS officer told TOI that the purpose of the joint listing committee – which will have representatives of NIA and the police forces of Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh – is to “categorise the gangsters — something like the system of classifying terrorists into ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ category based on their training level and past record – and prepare separate lists of the gang leaders, members, foreign-based associates, arms and weapons suppliers, financiers, foot soldiers, harbourers and businesses providing support, and accordingly strategise how to deal with them,” said the officer.
The committee will map the entire network of the various criminal syndicates active in the northern states, based on which joint action will be planned and executed by NIA and the concerned state/UT police.
“Rather than coordinating on a one-off basis, new information on gangs will now be shared through a structured mechanism and in real time. The DIGs and concerned SPs etc will get together each month to review actions and strategies and discuss any new actionable inputs or trends. The discussions may be both at the higher level and the operational level,” said an officer.
While addressing the meeting, Haryana DGP P K Agrawal underlined the urgency of taking swift and decisive action to dismantle the gangster networks. Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav said international liaison and cooperation with the foreign law enforcement agencies is essential to extradite and deport active leaders and members based abroad.
Chandigarh police chief Praveer Ranjan highlighted the need for inter-state coordination and joint operations among the affected states. Representatives from various agencies presented their findings and insights into the ongoing investigations during the meeting. Officials from the NIA, Haryana Police, Punjab Police, and Chandigarh Police made presentations and shared information regarding the operations, modus operandi, and key individuals associated with these criminal syndicates.
The focus of the discussions was on devising strategies to disrupt the activities of organised criminal syndicates, strengthening intelligence sharing mechanisms, and coordination of efforts to apprehend the individuals involved in these unlawful activities.
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