Fight terror, its support system, Shah tells intelligence officials

NEW DELHI: Home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday stressed on the need for security agencies and the intelligence establishment to go beyond fighting the terrorist networks in isolation and crack down on the entire terror eco-system that supports, funds and facilitates terrorist acts in India.

Chairing a high-level meeting here with officials of Intelligence Bureau from across the country, to review the internal security situation, Shah engaged them in extensive discussions on the issues of counter-terrorism, threat of left-wing extremism, radicalisation, cyber-security related issues, border guarding and threats from cross-border elements to the integrity and stablility of the nation.

Underlining that the Modi government was committed to strengthening all aspects of security, having taken key steps in this direction over the last eight years, Shah appreciated the IB’s “very important contribution in maintaining peace in the country since Independence, anonymously and without any expectations”.

“Our fight is against terrorism and its support system...until we don’t fight firmly against both, victory against terrorism cannot be achieved,” he told senior IB officials that included IB director Tapan Kumar Deka, officials based at IB headquaters in Delhi as well as heads of state-level IB units.

He stressed on the need to further strengthen the process of information sharing and enhance liaisoning between counter-terrorism and anti-drug agencies of states. Describing narcotics as a menance that not only ruins the country’s youth but also generates funds for attacks on its internal security, Shah asked IB officers and state law enforcement agencies to work in tandem for completely dismantling the narco-terror network.

Shah also called for controlling left-wing extremism by dismantling its financial and logistical support system. Agencies like NIA have, as part of their probes in last few years into cases relating to left-wing terrorism, not only gone after perpetrators of Naxal attacks but also booked “urban Naxals” for allegedly propagating violent extremism ideology as a means to wage war against the State.