‘For crime prevention, there is no alternative to Intelligence’

This Independence Day, the city is asking for freedom from fear, violence & divisiveness

Pune will always be a target of the terrorists. It is an educational and cultural centre and also home to a large number of important military establishments. Students and professionals from across India are in Pune and whatever happens here is bound to have repercussions in the rest of the country.

To prevent and tackle such attacks, we require an institutional and much stronger intelligence gathering system specially at the state level, focus on basic policing and public awareness. At present, we lack a capable Intelligence system.

For example, in the state police, an officer creates his contacts and sources and further develops them. But when he gets transferred, there is no formal transfer of his intelligence data. Then everything that was gathered falls apart. Sources need to be credibly built. Installing CCTV camera systems is useful subsequent to the incident. But for prevention of crime, there is no alternative to Intelligence. One of the problems with our Intelligence system is that much of its machinery is used in gathering of what is called anti-government activities. It must focus on on anti-national activities instead.

Our police force is less than half of what is required. Many subjects that should ideally handled by separate offices are given to the police, so the focus gets diverted from basic policing. Basic discipline of avoiding crowds after an untoward incident must be followed. Adherence to basic traffic and parking rules would also minimise risk.

Our security is in our hands. The aim of the terrorists is to attract attention. India, with its strengths, will never buckle to such threats.

'Let's know each other better'

"Let's know each other better and leave no space for misunderstanding. I have been staying in the city for seven years and it has been a fantastic experience, barring the recent attacks that I feel happened due to the misunderstandings and not due to racial discrimination. We should not get carried away by attacks on N-E students in specific areas of the city. Pune is a lovely place, especially for students. The Pune police and also residents are doing their best to protect N-E residents here. The problem that happened now is mainly because people do not have much knowledge about the North-Eastern states. More people from Pune or the entire mainland should come to the North East, read about the region, understand the culture and issues of people there, who despite having different looks, food habits and lifestyle, are an integral part of India. At the same time, the people there should connect well with the people from the mainland. Let's accommodate each other.

... contd.

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