Ignoring intelligence

The Telangana police ignored the central intelligence about presence of activists stating that it was general information and not specific input, which is a clear case of dumping intelligence alert

While the police of Nalgonda district deserve kudos for the bravery they had exhibited in encountering the two SIMI activists on Saturday, the manner in which the entire operation was carried out has exposed the Telangana police’s unpreparedness. This proves a point that the state government has lost its grip on the law and order in the post-bifurcation scenario.

In fact, even after the Suryapet incident, the police and the government continue to speak in different voices. Additional DGP Sundeep Adda on Saturday said that the two who were killed in the encounter in Janakipuram of Mothkur mandal were SIMI activists who escaped from a jail in Madhya Pradesh, a fact which was confirmed by a team of officials from Madhya Pradesh after examining the bodies at Kamineni Hospitals.

But Home Minister Naini Narsimha Reddy on Saturday said that the persons who were shot dead were gangsters and not terrorists. Even on Monday Naini reiterated that the two assailants were not SIMI activists. While trying to cover up the slackness in the state intelligence, Adda confirmed that they had intelligence inputs about movements of SIMI activists in the State. But the reports did not give the exact areas where they were located. By these remarks the police boss wants people to believe that the central intelligence is not of great help.

It only gives general alerts but does not pin point the location of terrorists. It is a clear case of police dumping the intelligence alert. Though there were series of robberies, including the bank robbery at Choppadandi and Muthoot Finance which was carried out in a highly-professional manner, the police never bothered to explore the terrorist angle. For terror activities for the police relates only to large-scale destruction by planting bombs or mass killings.

What is more shocking is that it is being suspected that these SIMI activists were in Hyderabad for some time and there is a possibility that some more are still in the capital city. Yet the police do not appear to have woken up from their slumber. The government only concentrated on giving swanky vehicles and has been boasting of visible policing and conveniently ignored intelligence aspect.

What is baffling them now is how and why Suryapet, the area which falls under the constituency of Energy Minister Jagadish Reddy had become the hub of terrorist activity. It is equally baffling why the DGP has not entrusted the first incident to OCTOPUS or Greyhounds to nab the two assailants who had shot dead two police officers at hi-tech bus stand in Suryapet.

The precision with which the sharp-shooters killed the two policemen should have come as wakeup call for the police. The job of finding out the assailants was left to civil police who do not have modern weapons. This led to the loss of another young constable and two others one SI and CI getting badly injured. Even two days after the incident neither the government nor the police department seems to have reviewed the measures that need to be taken to prevent any such incident in the future.