20 July,2011 06:47 AM IST | | Kaumudi Gurjar
Three earlier committees failed to progress beyond initial stages
After a series of blasts rocked Mumbai on July 13, discussions to form a think-tank committee to curb terror activities are on. MiD DAY found that at least three such efforts were made in the past and they petered out after the initial meetings. Experts who were part of this committee are now weary of discussing the formation of another think-tank committee, as efforts in the past have died a premature death.
A similar effort was made even after 26/11 by the then Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, where a 60-member committee, which includedu00a0 film producers and journalists, was formed Former Director General of Police and Commissioner of Mumbai Anami Roy said, "I am weary of discussing any such initiative on the background of the blasts as the initiatives get limited only to the incident and is forgotten soon."
During his tenure as Mumbai Commissioner, Roy had initiated a think-tank committee in 2006 by appointing people from various fields and having some expertise on terrorism and Naxalism. Another Strategic Group was appointed in 2008 when Roy was the DGP. The group had 12 to 14 members and the group met periodically to discuss various issues. "These efforts broaden the horizons and widen the thought process and would have helped the police to deal with such incidents," Roy said.
Strengthen network
Lieutenant General (Retd) D B Shekatkar who was also part of the think-tank committee initiated in
2006 said, "The purpose of the think tank was to define terror, suggest preventive measures and improve policing, intelligence and security."u00a0 The other members of this group included former Commissioner K K Kashyap, Ashok Karnik former IB Chief, IPS officer Hemant Karkare and many others. "There were only two to three initial meetings and soon the committee became defunct.
Serious thought should have been give to these efforts. We need to be proactive which includes Predictable and Anticipatory Threat Analysis and Proactive approach which includes monitoring of data, mobile and financial transactions with maximum emphasis on strengthening the network of informants like taxi, rickshaw drivers and even the porters," said Shekatkar.
