The Union government would soon release a national policy and strategy to deal with the menace of terror, that will help in demolishing the entire terror ecosystem, said Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday while reiterating Prime Minister Narendra Modi's slogan of "zero tolerance for terrorism".
Speaking at the 'Anti-Terror Conference-2024' organised here, HM Shah said that the National Counter-terrorism Policy and Strategy are going to be readied for circulation amongst all states as they have to lead the fight against "terrorism, terrorists and the terror ecosystem".
Speaking about his interaction with DGPs today, inquiring about the scope the state police forces can enter into arrangements with Central agencies like the NIA and avail federal forensic facilities to devastate the terror ecosystem, HM Shah stressed upon integration of technology and training officers on using it.
He also paid tributes to 36,468 policemen who laid down their lives for national security and in the fight against terror, claiming that there has been a drop of 70 percent in terror activities in the country since 2014.
He said three amendments to criminal law, for the first time in 76 years since Independence, defined terrorism and allowed security agencies to pursue trials in absentia against terrorists and financial criminals.
The country needs to upgrade its security system to become a developed nation and put a unified anti-terrorism ecosystem in place, he said.
"A strong ecosystem against terror can be built only if all states implement the ATS structure, STF structure and training module suggested by the Central agencies," he said.
Stressing that information sharing in the fight against terror was crucial, HM Shah appreciated the progress the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) had made under the Intelligence Bureau. Exposing the important role that states need to play in the fight against terror-the security of the nation is a state subject, the Home Minister appealed to the police station-level staff here not to suppress the information, but share it with other agencies.
"Suppressing information is not going to help the nation. Police station-level staff need to follow the evolving strategy which started with 'Need to know' to 'Need to share' and should now be seen as 'Duty to share', " he said.
He said that the state police should collaborate with the NIA in creating a database of illegal weapons seized throughout the country.
More than that, said HM Shah, about the achievements of I4C – Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) - wherein the Ministry of Home Affairs had created a framework and ecosystem for law enforcement against cybercrimes.
The fight against terror would be incomplete without demolishing its financial system. Be it cryptocurrency, gold smuggling, drug smuggling, or hawala; the state-level security system needs to contribute toward dismantling the terror finance network.
Law should be used freely against the financial network of the terror ecosystem," he said, urging states to coordinate with the NIA on this issue.
The Home Minister also urged the media to highlight recovery of explosives and weapons by the police forces to keep them motivated in the fight against terror.
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