Intelligence veteran Anil Choudhary gives insight into why NTRO, which reports to the prime minister's office, failed to come up to expectations. He also suggests how India could tighten its security apparatus.
The arrest of Al Qaeda operatives in Spain and Thailand has once again revealed the burgeoning nexus between terror outfits and criminal gangs across the world.
Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa brings forth the different contours of the proposed NCTC, and also explains the raging debate over its formation.
Former Intelligence Bureau chief Rajiv Mathur on Thursday took over as the new chief information commissioner in the Central Information Commission.
Police asked to develop de-encryption software to improve gathering of technical intelligence on terror groups, who were using it to avoid detection.
The former finance minister also said the centre should find out the areas in Jammu and Kashmir where autonomy can be given.
Vicky Nanjappa analyses the Indian Mujahideen's modus operandi.
The now-deported Israeli couple Shneor Zalman and Yaffa Shenoi were in India on a multiple entry visa and were residing at the Rose Street at Fort Kochi in Kerala. Meanwhile, the police and the Intelligence Bureau continue to question the local handler who was helping out the Israeli couple. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
In a worrisome trend, researchers have found that candidates with less or poor general aptitude are getting attracted to jobs in the Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) among other agencies and suggested changes in selection procedures.
There may be a lot of confusion over the arrest of Naqqi Ahmed Washi Ahmed Shaikh in connection with the 13/7 Mumbai blasts, and it would be a while before this issue has some clarity. However, the biggest setback in all this is for the Intelligence Bureau, because this man was an informer for them. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
After startling revelations of a possible security breach in his office came to the fore, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said that investigating agencies found nothing during their probe at his office. In September last year, Mukherjee wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, asking him to order a "secret inquiry" about the presence of "planted adhesives" in 16 key locations in his office, a leading English daily had reported.
Along with several illegitimate businesses that Dawood Ibrahim operates, he also runs some legitimate ones that the Pakistan government is well aware of. This can happen only with the complete support of the establishment say Intelligence Bureau officials. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
In a notice, issued under section 91 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) on January 13, the SIT had directed Bhatt to produce the original and/or office copy of the alert fax message, which he had attached to his letter of January 4 to the Nanavati Commission, with a copy to the agency.
There have been contradictory reports on the cause of accident.
Though the numbers of infiltrators have come down considerably, security forces cannot afford to relax yet, finds out Vicky Nanjappa.
The investigations into the four incidents of terror -- Jama Masjid in New Delhi, 13/7 blasts in Mumbai, the German Bakery in Pune and Chinnaswamy blasts in Bengaluru -- may appear as though they are taking longer than usual to crack.
Noted danseuse Mallika Sarabhai on Sunday accused Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of using public funds to "bribe her lawyers" in an attempt to derail proceedings of the public interest litigation filed in the Supreme Court by her on the post-Godhra 2002 riots case.
Air India on Tuesday enhanced the ambit of discount on tickets to paramilitary personnel by extending the benefit to their family members.
In a sensational claim, a former Pakistan army general has said that Osama bin Laden had been kept in a "safe house" of Intelligence Bureau in Abbottabad with "full knowledge" of the then ruler Pervez Musharraf and possibly current Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani.
Dawood Ibrahim, the second most wanted terrorist in India after Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed, is hiding in Pakistan, according to the Indian administration. But Pakistan has denied reports about granting refuge to Dawood. The Intelligence Bureau has now prepared a fresh dossier on the underworld don -- the mastermind of the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai -- and handed it over to the Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA is reportedly tracking the underworld don.
The police says that the Karnataka Forum for Dignity is one of the fastest growing outfits in South India with nearly 40,000 members
A question that India would like to ask Pakistan is regarding a man by the name Muzzamil Bhat. Pakistan has been silent on the whereabouts of this man, who imparted training to all the 10 terrorists who carried out the 26/11 attacks. Vicky Nanjappa finds out why.
Several reports put out by both the home ministry and also the Intelligence Bureau show that the seas continue to be the biggest cause for concern and that there is a long way to go before they are secure completely.
CEC Sunil Arora will meet former heads of Central Board of Direct Taxes and Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs on Friday to discuss ways to keep a check on black money disbursements in South India, especially Tamil Nadu.
A Nepali national, suspected to be behind supplying explosive materials to Maoists in India and Nepal, has been placed under arrest in the capital New Delhi's central district area. Police officials said that the accused has been arrested with several explosive detonators and wires.
'We know how to kill a terrorist, but we do not know how to stop an innocent boy getting radicalised.'
Riazul Sarkar, the man arrested in Bihar in connection with the Mumbai serial blasts, may have links with the Harkat-ul-Jihadi based in Bangladesh, according to sources in the Intelligence Bureau. But the agency doesn't have too many relevant details about the alleged link, they said. Riazul's remand may be extended since the National Investigation Agency wants to question him. Riazul, who is fluent in Kannada and Bengali, furnished a false address to the investigators.
The National Investigating Agency was attending to a very important task last week when three blasts rocked Mumbai city. The NIA was studying the modus operandi and the regrouping of the Indian Mujahideen, which is the prime suspect in the investigations today.
The Bhakra Dam is on the hit list of Pakistan-based militant outfits Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jamaat-ud Dawa, an Intelligence Bureau report has warned, prompting the Punjab and Himachal Pradesh governments to step up vigil.
The intensity and the articulate planning of Mumbai serial blasts, which claimed 18 lives on Wednesday night, indicates the involvement of the Indian Mujahideen. Intelligence Bureau reports suggest that the IM, which was formed in Uttar Pradesh a few years ago, has regrouped in south India. South states have long been considered as the preferred locations for terrorists to set up their hubs. Kerala is considered to be particularly sensitive due to its likely role as a feeder.
Ajit Doval, former chief of the Intelligence Bureau, has raised serious doubts about the statements of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram, who had claimed that they had a blue print to provide security to the people of India. "When the United Progressive Alliance government was voted to power, Dr Singh had promised to implement within a hundred days a fool-proof plan for internal security that would ensure the safety of all citizens," he said.
The serial blasts in Mumbai on Wednesday night were the handiwork of the Inter Services Intelligence which is trying to spread terror in India, believes Girish Chander Saxena, former governor of Jammu and Kashmir and former chief of the Intelligence Bureau. "I have little doubt that the incidents in Mumbai and the one Pulwama in Kashmir, in which three top terrorists including two persons of Pakistan origin and a local militants were killed by security forces, could be linked
Terror outfit Indian Mujahideen is back to haunt security agencies in the country. An Intelligence Bureau report indicates that the group, which was wiped out to a large extent in India, is all set for a comeback. There are intercepts to show that cadres recruited for the IM are undergoing heavy training in Pakistan.
It was also decided in the meeting to enhance police-MLA coordination in the national capital and also reactive peace committees with representatives of all sections of society, religions and eminent local citizens, an official said.
The Intelligence Bureau has, according to highly placed sources, warned the Kerala government about the presence of several Bangladeshis, who are illegally staying in areas surrounding Kochi.
'The Himmatsinghji Report is still 'missing'.' 'It is a great loss for the knowledge of India's borders.' 'It would have an immense value at a time China is bound to shift its attention to other border fronts in the Himalayas,' notes Claude Arpi.
It seems like there is a virtual war being fought on our borders. Despite curbs and beefed up security along the border, the Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan continues to gather information on India.
Danish Riyaz has told interrogators that the arrests have severely dented IM's operations and badly affected its recruitment and fund-raising drives. That in turn has reduced the Indian Mujahideen's capabilities to execute serial bombings. Toral Varia reports
A largely behind-the-scene operative, Yaseen Bhatkal is today on the watch list of the Interpol with a red corner alert issued against him.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday the Intelligence Bureau's 'chewing gum theory' regarding the alleged bugging of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's office as 'big joke'. The party has demanded a thorough probe into the matter.