Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday directed the country’s top security and intelligence leadership to take strict measures against infiltration as officers discussed the detection and deportation of illegal immigrants, a policy framework to combat cybercrime and proxy warfare by Pakistan.
Shah further “directed all the agencies to take strict measures against infiltration,” MHA said on Monday. (ANI Video Grab)
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Shah also asked the officers to use the “trial in absentia” option for fugitives hiding in foreign jurisdictions and to implement the recently formed national counter-terrorism policy.
He spoke at the launch of the Intelligence Bureau’s (IB) 9th two-day National Security Strategies (NSS) conference in Delhi, which was attended by all central agencies’ chiefs and around 850 officers from across the country in hybrid mode.
“On the first day of the conference, discussions focused on critical aspects of national security, including response to counter-terrorism challenges, fusion, analysis and operationalisation of intelligence through the Multi Agency Centre (MAC), vision document on narcotics control, detection and deportation of illegal migrants, and a policy framework to combat cyber-crime and proxy warfare by Pakistan,” the MHA said in a statement at the end of the first day of the conference.
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“For effective tackling of terrorism and radicalisation, Shah emphasised on training for implementation of MHA’s Prahaar scheme, expediting trial by bringing back fugitives and using trial in absentia provisions and undertaking comprehensive and integrated approach while investigating UAPA [Unlawful Activities Prevention Act] cases,” the MHA said.
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“For effective tackling of terrorism and radicalisation, Shah emphasised on training for implementation of MHA’s Prahaar scheme, expediting trial by bringing back fugitives and using trial in absentia provisions and undertaking comprehensive and integrated approach while investigating UAPA [Unlawful Activities Prevention Act] cases,” the MHA said.
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Indian agencies are currently launching a trial in absentia under the new Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) for Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed in last year’s Pahalgam terror attack case.
Shah further “directed all the agencies to take strict measures against infiltration,” MHA said on Monday.
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The home minister also directed the agencies and police that an AI-based analysis of information available on MAC (multi-agency centre) platforms should be done to create SOPs (standard operating procedures) to counter various national security challenges,” according to the ministry.
During the annual NSS conference, Indian intelligence agencies and security forces discuss infiltration, sharing of real-time intelligence against terror groups, dismantling their logistics and funding support networks and other national security issues. It is attended by participants from across the country, including the Union home secretary, deputy national security advisors, heads of central paramilitary forces and other central organisations, director generals of police of states and union territories, as well as young police officers working at the cutting-edge level and domain experts from specialised fields.
The second day of the conference, the MHA said, “will focus on the threat landscape from sub-aerial systems and formulating countermeasures, securing the blue economy, information warfare and its implications on national security and the need for a bio-security framework”.
Neeraj Chauhan is a senior journalist with Hindustan Times and an investigative reporter specialising in national security, terrorism, organised crime, narcotics, corruption, financial crime and complex investigations. With over 21 years of experience across Hindustan Times, The Times of India, The Indian Express and The Pioneer, he has built deep expertise in India’s internal security and law-enforcement landscape. Neeraj has extensively covered India’s principal investigative, intelligence and security agencies, including the NIA, CBI, ED, IB, R&AW, MHA and other central security forces. His work has included deeply reported investigations into terrorism, terror financing, cross-border crime, narcotics trafficking, cybercrime, financial fraud and political and corporate corruption. He has reported on some of the most significant terror attacks and security developments in India over the past two decades, including the Delhi serial blasts, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the 2019 Pulwama terror attack and the recent Pahalgam attack. His reporting has also chronicled the rise and decline of the Indian Mujahideen, the activities and subsequent crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI), Islamist extremist networks, the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, insurgencies in the Northeast and Maoist violence. Some of Neeraj’s major breaking stories are in Aryan Khan drug case, Sushant Singh Rajput suicide, interception of a 3,000-kg Afghan heroin consignment worth about ₹21,000 crore at Mundra port, Sri Lanka easter bombings, Aarushi-Hemraj murders in Noida, 2G scam, coal block allocation scam, AgustWestland VVIP chopper deal and major bank frauds and extradition cases involving Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya. His reporting is marked by an ability to cultivate sources, analyse confidential and complex documents, and follow investigations over several years—from the initial breakthrough to chargesheets, trials and international legal proceedings. He specialises in making complicated security and investigative developments accessible while examining their wider implications for governance and public policy. A Chevening South Asia Journalism Programme Fellow at the University of Westminster, Neeraj also spent time at the Financial Times as part of the fellowship. He was also a Robert Bosch Media Ambassadors India-Germany Fellow, studying at the University of Tübingen and working with Der Tagesspiegel in Berlin. He has previously taught investigative journalism and crime reporting as a guest faculty member at the Times School of Journalism. Over more than two decades, Neeraj has established himself as an authoritative voice on India’s national security and investigative landscape, with his reporting closely followed by officials, investigators, lawyers, policymakers and readers seeking insight into some of the country’s most complex and consequential developments.
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Home/India News/Use trial in absentia for fugitives hiding abroad: Amit Shah at security brass meet
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