India to constitute National Investigation Agency on Thursday

New Delhi, Dec 31 (PTI) India's National Investigation
Agency, the federal organisation being set up to deal with
terrorism across the country, will come into force from
Thursday and will be headed by a Director General level
officer.

"The order constituting the NIA will be issued
tomorrow," India's Home Minister P Chidambaram told a press
conference here, hours after President Pratibha Patil gave
assent to the NIA bill as also to the Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Amendment Bill, which have now become law.

The two bills, brought forward in the wake of the Mumbai
terror attacks, were passed by Parliament during the
just-concluded session in order to make the anti-terror laws
deterrent.

Chidambaram said the Director General of the new
agency will be named in the next few days.

"NIA will be established to investigate terrorist
offences. As and when any case is assigned to NIA, it will
take up investigation," he said.

To a question, the Home Minister said that cases to
be taken up by the NIA would be decided by a committee of two
judges, who will decide the merit of the cases within seven
working days and the government will take a decision in as
many days.

On the investigation into the Mumbai attacks, he said
"investigations are progressing on the right track".

The Indian Home Minister said work is in progress to set
up 20 counter-insurgency and anti-terrorism schools.

He said the Multi Agency Centre (MAC) acting as nodal
agency on all terror-related intelligence has become
operational on a 24x7 basis from Wednesday.

Chidambaram said an order has been issued today under
which MAC has to share inputs will all intelligence agencies,
including agencies of state governments and union territories
and vice-versa.

He said subsidiaries of MAC have been established in some
state capitals and in due course these would be set up in
remaining state capitals.

The Home Minister, who will chair a meeting of MAC
tomorrow, hoped that there would be "distinct improvement" in
the gathering and sharing of intelligence relating to
terrorism, terrorist threats and terrorist offences.

Chidambaram, who took over the reins of Home Ministry
on December 1, said a new and mutually beneficial arrangement
has been established under which all intelligence agencies
share intelligence on a real time basis and are able to make a
joint preliminary assessment of the inputs.

Asked about the cooperation from Pakistan in
investigation of Mumbai terror attacks, Chidambaram said if
someone was in a state of denial mode, "anything we give will
be denied."

He said the father of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving
terrorist in the Mumbai attack, has come on a Pakistani
television saying that he (Kasab) is his son.

"Kasab himself has written to the Pakistan Government
seeking legal help. What more evidence does Pakistan require,"
he asked.

Chidambaram said the Home Ministry will bring before the
Cabinet a note on establishing NSG hubs in four cities in the
first instance followed by more such units in a phased manner.

He said the Ministry of Defence will bring before the
cabinet a note on establishing a Coastal Command.

Sanction has been accorded to the IB to fill up the
vacancies in the executive cadre on an emergent basis, he said
adding ten officers at Superintendent of Police, Deputy
Inspector General and Inspector General levels have been
appointed to the IB against vacancies.

The Home Minister said that 20,000 bullet proof jackets
for central para-military forces were being procured on an
emergent basis.

As a measure to strengthen internal security, Chidambaram
said he has appointed a senior officer K C Verma as his
internal security adviser.

The Home Minister said financial allocations have also
been made for constructing 27 new border roads on the
Indo-China border.

He said instructions have been issued to complete the
preparatory work so that work can begin on May 1, 2009. PTI