News Analysis India

Tag: Intelligence Bureau

  • Suspected ISIS terrorist nabbed from Jharkhand’s Lohardaga

    Express News Service

    RANCHI: A joint team of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Delhi Police have arrested an Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist Faizan Ansari from Jharkhand’s Lohardaga. NIA sources claimed that he was in contact with the ISIS network within and outside the country through the dark net.

    Ansari was also said to be in contact with Pakistan’s intelligence agency. Later in the afternoon, he was produced before the NIA court and sent to Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi.

    A student of Aligarh Muslim University, Ansari was living with his family in Lohardaga for the last two months and was operating from there. He came in contact with the ISIS network while studying at Aligarh Muslim University. NIA, along with other agencies, is said to have kept a tab on his activities for the last few weeks.

    “Ansari was in regular contact with his handlers and was also trying to build a network in Jharkhand,” claimed NIA sources. Many incriminating videos, pen drives and other objectionable items related to radical Islamist ideology have been found from Ansari, they added.

    As per the information received, the terrorist organization was trying to set up a strong network in Jharkhand and was in contact with several youths in and outside Lohardaga in Jharkhand.

    His father Firoz Ansari, originally from Bihar, is working with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) on a contractual basis and had been living in Lohardaga for the last 20 years after constructing a house. After the arrest of Fizan Ansari, his parents and other family members went elsewhere after locking the house.

    RANCHI: A joint team of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Delhi Police have arrested an Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist Faizan Ansari from Jharkhand’s Lohardaga. NIA sources claimed that he was in contact with the ISIS network within and outside the country through the dark net.

    Ansari was also said to be in contact with Pakistan’s intelligence agency. Later in the afternoon, he was produced before the NIA court and sent to Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi.

    A student of Aligarh Muslim University, Ansari was living with his family in Lohardaga for the last two months and was operating from there. He came in contact with the ISIS network while studying at Aligarh Muslim University. NIA, along with other agencies, is said to have kept a tab on his activities for the last few weeks.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    “Ansari was in regular contact with his handlers and was also trying to build a network in Jharkhand,” claimed NIA sources. Many incriminating videos, pen drives and other objectionable items related to radical Islamist ideology have been found from Ansari, they added.

    As per the information received, the terrorist organization was trying to set up a strong network in Jharkhand and was in contact with several youths in and outside Lohardaga in Jharkhand.

    His father Firoz Ansari, originally from Bihar, is working with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) on a contractual basis and had been living in Lohardaga for the last 20 years after constructing a house. After the arrest of Fizan Ansari, his parents and other family members went elsewhere after locking the house.

  • CBI botches up probe into 1996 cryptography equipment import case, accused acquitted

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: In a major embarrassment to the CBI, a special court has acquitted businessman Harish Gupta who was accused of attempting to import an encryption system from Siemens in Germany in 1995 on the basis of forged certificate of the National Security Guard (NSG), calling it a “botched up probe”.

    In a series of terse remarks, the court pointed out that the matter involved “serious threat to the safety and security of the nation” which needed “deeper investigation”, but it appears that the investigation officer (IO) “did not make even a shallow investigation”.

    “It appears that IO has purposefully not made an investigation either on his own or at the behest of some higher-up and thus, the possibility cannot be ruled out that all these were done to save the skin of the real culprit or maybe of the present accused, if at all he was involved,” Special Judge Harish Kumar said, acquitting Gupta from the charges of forgery.

    On a warm April afternoon in 1996 when the country was in the middle of parliamentary elections, NSG Squadron Commander Vimal Satyarthi received a letter from the Belgium Embassy asking him to reissue the end user certificate for the import of encryption equipment from Siemens NV, Germany.

    The equipment was only sold to law enforcement agencies of a country and Satyarthi had not issued any end user certificate for interception equipment which he was being asked to re-issue.

    The letter sent alarm bells ringing in the security establishment as the Belgium Embassy communique meant that someone was attempting to import the equipment with the help of forged end user certificate, dated December 18, 1995, purportedly issued by Satyarthi.

    The NSG carried out an internal enquiry following which its then Director General AK Tandon wrote to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) flagging the matter on May 9, 1996.

    Then-Joint Secretary in Union Home Ministry UK Sinha enclosed the copy of letters from Tandon, that of the Embassy of Belgium with end user certificate, and handed over the probe to the CBI on May 28, 1996 to undertake “thorough enquiry in view of its seriousness and damaging ramification”.

    The CBI started a preliminary enquiry nearly two months later which was followed by an FIR on October 12, 1996.

    During the probe, Satyarthi told the CBI that the NSG had received a letter from the then Joint Secretary in the External Affairs Ministry ESL Narsimhan, who later became Governor of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, addressed to the Intelligence Bureau with a copy marked to the MHA and NSG, that one Harish Gupta of Secure Telecom Pvt.Ltd. had in fact tried to import the equipment using a forged certificate and this equipment may be used by the national security agencies of different governments.

    The CBI claimed that Gupta was dealing in import of counter-surveillance equipment with his clientele involving government agencies like Narcotics Control Bureau, Enforcement Directorate, NSG, etc.

    The CBI alleged Gupta had attempted to import two encryption systems — T1285 CA including Key Generation Program CGP 2002 and Crypto Fill Device CED 2001 — from Siemens, for which end user certificate from a government law enforcement agency was needed.

    According to the CBI charge sheet filed on September 1998, Gupta allegedly forged the certificate to show it was purportedly issued by Satyarthi of the NSG and submitted it to Siemens.

    During the trial, 11 witnesses were produced by the CBI, including Narsimhan when he was the Governor of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, then Joint Secretary in MHA UK Sinha and senior officers of the NSG.

    Nearly 22 years after filing of the charge sheet, the trial court acquitted Gupta from charges of cheating (420 IPC) but convicted him of forgery (468 IPC) on December 22, 2021 and sentenced him to undergo sentence of three years with a fine of Rs 10,000.

    Gupta filed an appeal before the special CBI judge who acquitted him from the remaining charge of forgery and set aside his conviction.

    Acquitting Gupta, the special court noted that the CBI investigation officer, Akhil Kaushik, had not recorded statement of any of the witnesses of the CBI under Section 161 of the CrPC, except for that of Satyarthi.

    On how the name of Gupta cropped up, the court noted that except from a letter from Narsimhan having “hearsay reference” about Gupta using a forged end user certificate, there was nothing on record to show how the CBI concluded that the forgery was done by the businessman.

    The investigation officer did not make any investigation either from the Embassy of Belgium or from Siemens and did not even meet and record statement of Narsimhan whose letter had hearsay reference about the involvement of Gupta, it said.

    “Besides hearsay reference in the letter…, there is nothing on record showing how IO based his conclusion that it was Harish Gupta who attempted to import the above two systems and in the process forged end user certificate and sent them to Siemens NV,” it said.

    The judge marked a copy of the judgment to the CBI Director “to initiate appropriate action as per rules if he in his wisdom consider necessary, not only against the erring investigating officer but also against the then forwarding officer who forwarded the charge-sheet, if both or any of them is still in service; and also for taking steps to improve the quality of investigation by CBI’s official if needed by imparting adequate training”.

  • After CBI and ED, now service extension basket gets wider in intelligence too

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  Defence and home secretaries, as well as the director of Intelligence Bureau and the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) chief, can now be given extensions of up to two years, as the Centre has just issued a gazette notification amending the Fundamental Rules of all services. 

    The Fundamental Rules, 1992, are an overarching set of rules that apply to all civilian government servants. They cover the entire gamut of their in-service and post-retirement working scenarios.

    Officials said the gazette notification was needed to bring the rulebook in line with the two ordinances promulgated on Sunday to give the heads of the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) service extension up to three years beyond their fixed tenure of two years, one year at a time.

    At present, civil servants have a fixed tenure of two years in these posts, and their appointments are governed by the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act.

    Through the ordinance, the government amended the DSPE Act and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Act so as to extend the service of the ED and CBI chiefs up to five years. 

    Monday’s notification implies that if the government wants, it can extend the tenure of other senior officers — defense secretary, home secretary, IB director and RAW secretary — up to four years. “This notification was necessary to clear the path for all such extensions as the Fundamental Rules are overarching,” a senior government functionary said.

    The official said the objective of the ordinance as well as the notification is the same — to ensure that important policy decisions and investigations get adequate time.

    “It takes several months for the incumbent to just understand the organisation and next year it is time to go. So, it is in the interest of these institutions that the government has paved the way for longer tenures of these important officials.”  

    Interestingly, the current home secretary as also the heads of IB and RAW are all on one-year extension after completing their two-year fixed terms.

    Trinamool moves notice in Rajya Sabha

    The Opposition kept up its attack on the ordinances, claiming they were aimed at “misusing the agencies”. The Trinamool moved a notice for statutory resolutions in the Rajya Sabha against the ordinances.

  • Governor hails TN govt efforts in tackling Covid; vows to function within parameters of Constitution

    Express News Service

    CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi after assuming office has hailed the Tamil Nadu government efforts in tackling the Covid pandemic while vowing to function within the parameters of the Constitution.

    Addressing reporters after being sworn in, the Governor said, “It is too premature to say anything on the performance of the state government. But I am sure the government is doing well because of the way it handled the Covid pandemic. The infection has come down.”

    Ignoring the charges being made against his appointment to the gubernatorial post, the Governor told reporters, “Look, the slate of our relationship is absolutely new and clean. My effort will be to make it as beautiful as possible in days to come.” 

    This comes as a section of political parties opposed his appointment as Governor and alleged that there is an ulterior motive behind his appointment since he had held high-profile positions in the police department and with the Intelligence Bureau.

    Reacting to a query on whether he would be visiting the districts as his predecessor Banwarilal Purohit did, the Governor said, “Just minutes ago I was sworn in. One thing I know, this place has a popular government mandated by the people and the governance is the responsibility of the government. The Governor is to function within the parameters of the Constitution. I will try my best to keep that in mind.”

    Earlier, in his introductory remarks, Ravi said, “I am delighted, indeed feeling humble to be in the land and amidst the people which is one of the most ancient cultures and civilization in the world.  Our country has benefited enormously from the intellectual, spiritual, and artistic wealth of the place and the political wisdom. In fact, this place and the people have influenced and shaped to a great deal the very idea of India.  I am looking forward to being in the service of the people to the best of my ability and the space that the Constitution gives me.”

  • Haryana DGP Manoj Yadava seeks premature repatriation to Intelligence Bureau

    By Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH: Haryana Director General of Police Manoj Yadava on Tuesday sought repatriation to the Intelligence Bureau (IB) to join back the agency as an additional director due to carrier consideration and family requirements.

    In a letter written to Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Rajeev Arora, Yadava said: “It may kindly be recalled that the undersigned had joined as Director General of Police, Haryana, on February 21, 2019, in pursuance of the Haryana home department order dated February 19 for a period of two years. The undersigned had joined Haryana on deputation from the Intelligence Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, for a period of two years.”

    “The Haryana Government Home department order dated January 7, 2021, has extended my tenure as Director-General of Police beyond February 20, 2021, till further order,” the letter said.

    The letter further reads, “In this connection, it is informed that the undersigned would now like to return to Intelligence Bureau to resume my duties as Additional Director due to carrier consideration and family requirements. It is, therefore, requested that the undersigned be kindly be relieved for re-joining the Intelligence Bureau.”

    In January this year, the Haryana Government had extended Yadava’s term till further orders for a period of two years but Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij had taken exception to the extension and pushed for a panel to select a new DGP. Vij, in March, had written to the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) to send a panel of officers to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to be considered for the next DGP.

    However, CM Manohar Lal Khattar had a disagreement with Vij. Khattar then said, “We are not removing Yadava as the DGP after completion of two years, which is a minimum stipulation prescribed by the Supreme Court. The DGP has already been given an extension to continue till further orders. There is no decision to replace him.”

  • Centre grants one-year extension of tenure to chiefs of Intelligence Bureau, R&AW

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  The government on Thursday extended the tenure of heads of the two intelligence agencies Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW). It also approved a change of guard in Jammu and Kashmir’s top bureaucratic post of chief secretary.

    The tenure of IPS officer Samant Kumar Goel, Secretary, R&AW, was extended by one year. His batchmate Aravinda Kumar, Director, IB, also got an extension of one year. BVR Subramanyam, chief secretary of J&K, was brought to Delhi as OSD in Commerce Ministry. The extensions were cleared by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet.

    Before his appointment as R&AW chief, Goel was heading operations for the agency and played a key role in planning the February 2019 Balakot airstrike and the 2016 surgical strikes. His extension ends speculation whether a six-month criterion used in the Central Bureau of Investigation director’s recent appointment would apply here as well.

    Sources said, in the CBI chief’s appointment, CJI NV Ramana cited past judgments of the Supreme Court and argued that no officer having less than six months of service left should be considered. Subrahmanyam, a 1987 batch IAS officer, has been appointed Officer on Special Duty in the Commerce Ministry. He will take over as Commerce Secretary from June 30.

    A Chhattisgarh-cadre officer, he had been hand-picked for the J&K role. “ACC has also approved his appointment as secretary, department of commerce, upon superannuation of Anup Wadhwan IAS secretary department of commerce on 30.06 2021,” the order said.

    Mehta replaces Subramanyam as Jammu & Kashmir chief secretary

    AK Mehta was on Thursday appointed chief secretary of Jammu and Kashmir in place of BVR Subramanyam. Mehta, who is at present the financial commissioner, has served in the UT for a long time.