The recent terror attack in Hyderabad has put the NCTC proposal back on home minister Sushilkumar Shinde’s table. Mr Shinde is keen to operationalise the counter-terror body by bringing a revised proposal to the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) for its approval soon. The home ministry is veering around to the view that instead of specifying powers of arrest, the most contentious issue related to NCTC, the counter terror body’s functions will be limited to conducting “joint’’ operations where state police forces will take the lead in making arrests. Sources disclosed Mr Shinde was not entirely happy with the way intelligence inputs were shared among agencies in the run up to the Hyderabad blasts as it left certain gaps allowing terrorists to continue to carry out attacks. Mr Shinde had met the intelligence brass and expressed concern over the issue, sources said.
Soon after the terror attack, Mr Shinde had conceded the blasts took place despite multiple intelligence inputs being shared with the state government.
In a bid to iron out the differences with state governments, the revised proposal may keep silent on powers of arrest to NCTC officials. “Not giving powers of arrest to NCTC sleuths, who will be pooled in from various intelligence agencies, will prevent them from getting exposed and facing legal problems since, if they make arrests they might have to depose in court during trial,” a senior official pointed out.
While the “core staff’’ of NCTC is expected to be drawn from the IB, it will have officers on deputation from other intelligence agencies. The new proposal is expected to allay fears of not only the non-Congress state government but also the Intelligence Bureau.