J&K home department gives go-ahead for formation of State Investigation Agency

The SIA will work as a nodal body for coordination with the NIA and other central agencies. A director will head the SIA and it will be mandatory for all security agencies to bring to its notice cases or arrests made in connection with counter-insurgency

The Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) home department has given its go-ahead for the formation of the State Investigation Agency (SIA), which will work as a nodal body for coordination with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and other central agencies.

A boatman on a shikara at Dal Lake in Srinagar on Sunday. The Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) home department on Monday gave the go-ahead for the formation of the State Investigation Agency (SIA). (PTI)

“[The SIA] shall take such other measures as may be necessary [for] speedy and effective investigation and prosecution of terrorism-related cases,” said special secretary Khalid Mehraj in an order.

A director will head the SIA and it will be mandatory for all security agencies to bring to its notice cases or arrests made in connection with counter-insurgency.

The order said the officers in charge of police stations shall mandatorily intimate the SIA immediately upon registration of terrorism-related cases.

It said the cases where the investigation is not transferred to the SIA, the police shall ensure it is kept informed about the progress of the investigation at regular intervals, preferably on fortnightly basis. “The SIA shall also be the agency for investigation and trial of offences in cases that are transferred to the state government in terms of Section 7 of the National Investigation Act, 2008.”

The NIA is investigating dozens of cases in J&K and has been conducting raids with the help of other security agencies.