GUWAHATI, July 1 - The Centre will actively consider the Assam Police proposal for setting up of NEPOL (Northeast Police Organisation) on the lines of INTERPOL to ensure better coordination among the police forces of the northeastern states to prevent crimes. Meanwhile, the poor infrastructure of forensic science laboratories in the Northeast has become a matter of serious concern and the state governments have been requested to chalk out plans for their improvement and submit reports to the Centre.
Security sources told The Assam Tribune that the proposal for creation of the NEPOL was mooted by the Assam Police in the conference of the heads of police forces of the northeastern states that concluded here yesterday. The matter would receive �active consideration� of the Centre, they added.
Though the coordination of state police forces of the region improved considerably over the years, there is scope for further improvement. There are some crimes like vehicle theft, human trafficking, etc., in which inter-state gangs are involved and only real-time sharing of inputs can help in checking such crimes. The idea of the NEPOL is to improve coordination at all levels in the police forces and better connectivity, possibly up to the police station level.
Sources said there are national- and state-level intelligence sharing coordination committees, but they mostly deal with terrorism and insurgency. The Multi-Agency Centre (MAC), comprising as many as 26 agencies involved with counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency, meets in Delhi every day, while the state-level Subsidiary Multi-Agency Centre (SMAC) meets at least once a week to exchange inputs so that immediate action can be taken. Efforts are now on to take such mechanism right up to the district level for further improvement in coordination among different agencies working on the ground level.
Another major issue discussed in the two-day meeting was the importance of forensic science laboratories in investigation of crime. It has been found that in most states of the region, forensic science facilities are far from adequate to deal with the situation and there is urgent need for upgrading the labs. Forensic experts from other parts of the country were also brought to exchange ideas with the police personnel of the northeastern states and the state governments of the region have been requested to formulate detailed plans to augment the forensic test facilities not only for investigation of crimes but also to deal with the problems of insurgents using the cyber space.
It may not be possible for the state governments to carry out necessary augmentation of the forensic science facilities and that is why the states have been requested to send detailed proposals to the Centre in this regard so that the Government of India can also extend a helping hand in this regard.
It may be mentioned here that the meeting of police heads of the Northeast is being held every year and it is the first such regional forum in the country. It was created because of the complex problems facing the region, and the meeting assumes more significance in recent times as the active militant groups of the region have joined hands.
