Anti-Terror meet in Delhi: Amit Shah to chair conference on transnational crimes and social media’s role
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will host a two-day anti-terror conference in New Delhi starting November 7, bringing together heads of intelligence agencies and state counter-terrorism units. The conference, chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, will address pressing issues, including the role of organised crime in terror funding, social media’s role in terror cases, and the use of encrypted applications in terrorism.
One of the main topics will be the link between organised criminal gangs and terrorism, particularly in northeast India. The NIA will highlight the use of drones for cross-border arms and drug trafficking, and the rise of Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT) in southern India. The case of the Rameshwaram cafe blast will also be discussed, focusing on how the accused evaded arrest and were finally caught due to coordination between West Bengal police and the NIA.
The conference will also explore strategies for tackling Left-Wing Extremism and improving coordination between counter-terrorism squads and district police forces. It will stress the importance of a unified anti-terror framework and identification of terror hotspots in police stations.
The impact of narcotics trafficking on national security will be examined alongside the use of encrypted applications, VPNs, and virtual numbers to shield terrorists from detection. Officials will discuss regulating social media platforms to curb their use in terror activities.
Additionally, the NIA will present its national-level terror database, which includes over 90 lakh fingerprint records, data on 22,000 terrorist cases, and information on over 5 lakh narcotics offenders. This conference, scheduled for November 7-8, aims to reinforce a coordinated, comprehensive approach to counter-terrorism.
