Push for uniform anti-terror setup in States

Enhancing India’s counter-terror capabilities through a uniform anti-terror structure across states emerged as a key takeaway from a national conference that reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s zero tolerance towards terrorism, an NIA official said on Sunday.
The 5th Anti-Terror Conference of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which concluded on Saturday, also witnessed detailed deliberations under the newly introduced Track-2 format on issues such as digital device data, big data analytics and unmasking digital anonymity, the official said in a statement. The two-day conference was inaugurated on Friday by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The conference reaffirmed the Centre’s policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism in all forms and its commitment to strengthening the country’s anti-terror framework. Addressing the meet, Shah directed states to expeditiously implement a uniform Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) structure to enhance India’s counter-terror preparedness.
He emphasised that without robust, uniform and consistent operational capacity across the country, intelligence inputs cannot be effectively utilised and coordinated counter-actions cannot be efficiently carried out. Shah lauded the operational and investigative successes of central agencies and state police forces in recent terror cases, including the Pahalgam targeted attack and the Delhi Red Fort blast.
Referring to the Pahalgam case, the Home Minister said agencies had made the nation proud through thorough investigations. Citing the tracking and elimination of the three terrorists involved, he said this was the first terror incident in which planners were punished through Operation Sindoor and the perpetrators neutralised through Operation Mahadev. He described the twin operations as a strong and decisive response by the Government of India, security forces and the people of India to terrorist masterminds based in Pakistan.
Highlighting the rapidly evolving terror and technology landscape, Shah stressed the need for continuous assessment and re-evaluation of counter-terror strategies. He underlined the importance of addressing international dimensions such as cyber warfare, hybrid warfare, multi-layered security challenges and ensuring the free flow of intelligence among agencies at the Centre and in the states. Stressing the need to strengthen investigation and prosecution, Shah asked states to conduct regular training programmes for police and security personnel. On the occasion, he congratulated officers and personnel awarded service medals for outstanding performance and paid tribute to over 36,000 CAPF and police personnel who made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty.
In his concluding remarks, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan said institutionalising the conference reinforced India’s zero-tolerance approach towards cross-border, narco and cyber-enabled terrorism. He stressed heightened vigilance against threats from radicalisation, recruitment and exploitation of vulnerable youth for violent activities.
Mohan lauded the NIA’s conviction rate of over 90 per cent and said the Centre aims to scale up conviction rates across all police forces to similar levels. The conference focused on lessons from investigations, pre-emptive disruption of terror modules, experiences related to Left Wing Extremism, the North East and emerging hybrid threats. Discussions also covered terror financing, maritime terrorism, illicit trafficking, deepfakes, digital forensics and evolving counter-terror jurisprudence.
The inaugural session was attended by heads of state police forces, central police organisations, CAPFs and over 150 delegates from state, UT and central agencies. Union Ministers of State Nityanand Rai and Bandi Sanjay Kumar were also present.