States will be informed of NCTC's operations: Hooda

Seeking to allay apprehensions that the NCTC would infringe on the states' rights, Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Saturday said the Standard Operating Procedure of the proposed anti-terror body would ensure that they are kept informed of all its operations.

Seeking to allay apprehensions that the NCTC would infringe on the states' rights, Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Saturday said the Standard Operating Procedure of the proposed anti-terror body would ensure that they are kept informed of all its operations.

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"The Government of India has come up with a detailed Standard Operating Procedure which ensures that the state governments concerned would be kept meaningfully informed of any operation undertaken by NCTC," Hooda said.

He was speaking at the chief ministers' conference on the proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre at Vigyan Bhavan here.

Hooda said that at the last chief ministers' conference the main objection of some state governments was related to the power of officers of NCTC to arrest and search.

He said that the intention of the NCTC order was not to encourage its officers to operate independently, without the knowledge of the state governments.

"A NCTC operation is to provide a powerful link to the states which would strengthen field level anti-terrorist operations in the states, allowing for adequate involvement of the state agencies," the Congress leader said.

"I would propose that intensive training should be given to the state and NCTC personnel jointly, so that intelligence gathering and field operations are carried out with perfect synchronisation," he said.

Hooda stressed on the need to provide adequate financial and technical resources to the states to ensure that the state intelligence wings and operations units, including the Anti-Terrorist Squads, are properly equipped and match the standards of the central agencies.

The chief minister suggested that the state police and CID officers should also be taken on deputation in the NCTC.

"Besides, it should be left to the state governments to notify a designated authority most suited to the task of coordinating and directing counter terrorism operations," he said.

Hooda also called upon the states to support the integration of all arms of intelligence and anti-terrorist agencies to root out the menace of terrorism.