State intelligence wing in a shambles

State intelligence wing in a shambles

The Hindu

Staff shortage, lack of modern gadgets affect work

# State police relying heavily on Central agencies for inputs
# Nearly 50 per cent of the posts in the intelligence wing are vacant
# There are no intelligence staff in most of the taluks

BANGALORE: The State intelligence wing, which provides inputs to the city and district police units on terrorist activities, is in a shambles.

Severe shortage of staff, lack of modern gadgets required for intelligence gathering and absence of trained personnel have hampered the work in the intelligence wing, according to highly placed sources in the State police.

All these have made the State police rely wholly on the Central intelligence agencies for inputs on terrorist plans to carry out attacks in the State, they said.

According to the sources, nearly 50 per cent of the sanctioned posts in the intelligence wing are vacant. While there was a request from the intelligence wing for additional staff, the State Government on Thursday transferred 11 inspectors from the wing without providing any replacements, they said.

According to the sources there are no intelligence staff in most of the 175 taluks in the State. Further, the officials and constables posted to the wing do not stay there for long and seek transfer to other sections. The average service period of a policeman in the intelligence wing is only one-and-a-half years.

As the staff do not stay for long, it becomes difficult for them to establish contacts and gather intelligence, particularly on terrorist outfits. Most of the personnel are not trained in intelligence gathering and they do not have adequate knowledge of the terrorist outfits operating in the country, the sources say.

Two proposals made to the State Government to strengthen the intelligence wing have been reportedly put on the back burner. One of the proposals is to post at least a constable for intelligence gathering in each taluk, according to the sources.

The other proposal is to create a separate cadre for the intelligence wing to ensure that the employees stay there permanently. Though the Government approved the proposal, it has not facilitated the recruitment process, the sources say.

There are two components in intelligence gathering, the human intelligence (humint) and technological intelligence (techint). But the intelligence wing has no gadgets for gathering "techint," they explain.

The intelligence wing is thus relying completely on "humint", the short-staffed and untrained personnel for gathering intelligence, the sources say.