The Central Reserve Police Force's proposed spy unit will take at least five years to come up with concrete results, say experts
The Central Reserve Police Force's proposed spy unit will take at least five years to come up with concrete results, say experts
The government has decided to launch a final war against the Naxalites but the country's largest para-military force is yet to get a working intelligence network.
Though the union cabinet has given a much-awaited nod to the raising of G unit for the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) experts say it will take time before the set up starts delivering results.
The G unit, as it is called in intelligence parlance, will take at least five years to deliver some concrete results, they said.
"Intelligence gathering does not come instantly. Raising an intelligence unit is a complex job. There are no immediate gains. Though the unit has already started functioning but one should not expect any result as of now," said a senior Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) official, on condition of anonymity.
Interestingly, the G Wing of Border Security Force (BSF) which was raised two years after the force came into existence in 1965 started to deliver credible intelligence as late as 1971.
"For CRPF the intelligence gathering is going to be a little more difficult as they are involved in various different theaters of conflict and operations. They need more of Human Intelligence (Humint) which is again the more complex aspect of intelligence," the officer said.
Besides tackling militancy in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and North East the CRPF troops are also fighting naxals in almost 14 states of the country.
The demand for an indigenous intelligence unit for the force was being raised for the last five years when the force was declared as the nodal agency to participate in all kind of internal conflicts.
The delay in raising the intelligence unit took place mainly because of the home ministry's point of view that the force should operate on the intelligence gathered from central intelligence agencies and state police.
"That has been a ridiculous approach. For example, there is hardly any presence of state police in the naxal-infested areas. Moreover, the tips and information provided by central intelligence agencies takes time to reach us. Sometimes the intel received does not even match out operational requirements," the home ministry officer added.
For the time being the format for the G Unit decided by the force includes eight personnel in each battalion while the entire unit would be headed by an Inspector General of Police (IGP) rank officer.
The selected men are undergoing an extensive training programme prepared by officials of several other intelligence agencies in the country.
"The most important part of their training would begin with identification of 'local sources' on the ground and their safe induction in the designated area," he said.
