Police ward off renewed terror threats

KOLKATA: Late on August 14 night, a message from the State Intelligence Branch reached the West Bengal police headquarters.
Normally, such a message could have sent the state police top brass in a tizzy. It said militants, posing to be ministers, could attack public places during Independence Day celebrations.
However, police seniors seemed unperturbed.“If we were to lose sleep over what the IB has been sending us over the past few months, we would not be sleeping at all,� remarked a senior state police official. Terrorism is at our doorstep.
Militants may blow up Writers’ Buildings. Suicide squads are on the prowl. Headlines of this nature have flooded the media ever since 9/11, the attack on Parliament and at the American Center in Kolkata. But, where are the terrorists?
Consider a few other messages: a top ULFA man shall be passing into Bangladesh from Bhutan through Jalpaiguri shortly; militants may attack vital installations.
“It is not possible to take any definite action on the basis of these general informations,� a senior state police officer said.
A significant section of the police top brass feel that the whole issue is being blown out of proportion. “After 9/11, there has been a general alert all over the country. West Bengal also falls under this,� the officer said. On receiving these messages, the police do take some action.
However, the poor ground Intelligence network proves to be a definitive barrier. Officers admitted that links between the common people and the local police have thinned down over the years.
There is, however, no belittling the militancy issue in North Bengal or the growth of Naxalite groups. Some officials of the state home (police) department felt that militancy in north Bengal or the growth of Naxalite groups in parts of the state were more of political problems.
“The problems have mainly sprung from lack of development and a feeling of neglect. These issues should not be confused with terrorist activity,� a state home (police) department official said.
Substantiating his case, the official said, the murders which have taken place are mostly of CPM partymen. “Common people have hardly been killed by these groups,� the official said, pointing to the fact that these could not be terrorist attacks.
There is an increasing feeling among the middle-level bureaucracy that the inflated projection of the threat perception from terrorism is a ploy to push through chief minister
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s Prevention of Organised Crime Act.
The level of militant activities that exist in the state, at the moment, is not a sufficient cause for promulgating Poca, officials felt.