Govt planning independent intelligence wing... Separating Intelligence Branch from police

Arunima Ghosh, SNS, Kolkata, 14 June: The state government is planning to come up with an independent wing to strengthen its intelligence network.

The proposal to set up an “independent intelligence cadre” by separating the Intelligence Branch from the police has recently been prepared by the state home department.

The move comes in the wake of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's call to the states for improving intelligence gathering mechanism to meet the growing challenges of terrorist and insurgent outfits. A suggestion in this regard was given by the ministry of home affairs to all states. Presently, the intelligence wing of the police is comprised of officials who are posted there through transfer from other wings. Postings in the wing is usually known as a “garage” or punishment posting.

In the state police's present structure, the focussed places of postings are police stations and the Detective Department. Since, postings in these areas is considered to be lucrative, officials are more keen to bag such postings. They remain in the intelligence wing for a few months or years after which they are transferred to some other wing.

“Due to frequent transfers, task of intelligence gathering suffers. An independent cadre is aimed at raising a set of officials with the correct aptitude and training along with more professionalism for the task,” said an official of the state secretariat. According to the proposal, personnel who are recruited in the intelligence cadre will go through a rigorous specialised commando training that will help in developing the aptitude and orientation that are required for the specialised task.

Proposed to be set up on the lines of the Intelligence Bureau, the proposed intelligence cadre will have a set of personnel, who will be recruited through a separate procedure and will remain there till superannuation. It will include personnel of ranks of DIG, SP, Deputy SP, inspectors, sub-inspectors, assistant sub-inspectors, head constables, assistant head constables and constables. An official said that the proposal is presently being examined. If everything goes as planned, the rules and guidelines will be drawn up following which it will be placed before the state cabinet and necessary approval will be sought from the finance department, he added.