Is there a lack of coordination among intelligence agencies?

The Delhi Police’s special cell succeeded in cracking Pune’s JM Road serial bomb blasts case which the state ATS and Pune police failed to do for the past two months. However, a closer look reveals that lack of information sharing among intelligence agencies at city, state and national level has led to internal system failure which needs to be restructured and reorganised immediately. Also, lack of informants within the state has marred the investigations...


It is true that sleeper cells exist in the state
The terrorist operations are not just limited to a state or a country, it is a serious global issue that needs to be tackled. Probably, the Delhi police got some concrete information and worked on it which later revealed the links of culprits with the JM Road blasts, which took place on August 1 in Pune.

We should appreciate the Delhi police’s achievement in cracking the case. This is also a learning lesson for the state agencies who need to reflect on where they have fallen short and what went wrong in the investigation process. Perhaps now, the investigators might get crucial information about the perpetrators of the blasts.

It is true that sleeper cells exist in cities like Nanded, Aurangabad and Pune. Hence, our national, state and city-level intelligence agencies along with the police need to work jointly and coordinate often in order to find out about terrorist movements and operations before any more such attacks take place.
BJ Misar, Former Director General of Police

Our state agencies lack in good sources
Why the Delhi police were able to crack the JM Road bomb blasts case? This is because they are closely working with the Intelligence Bureau (IB) as it is based in Delhi, which shares intelligence with the Delhi police on a regular basis. This also points out to the system failure in the state, which I feel is very rudimentary. Our state agencies lack in intelligence gathering, good dependable sources and connection with the locals who can provide vital information.

We have been telling the top bureaucrats and politicians that there is a need to strengthen our intelligence system but we have not got any response on it till now. The state has a system in place but the weakness of intelligence leaves us inefficient. However, the recent breakthrough in the city’s blasts is all because of the IB and not the Delhi police special cell alone.
Jayant Umranikar, IPS officer (Retd) and Former DGP (anti-Naxal operations)

Special cell of Delhi police is IB’s puppets
I don’t have faith in the Delhi police and their investigation. In many cases, the local police were correctly conducting the investigations but the Delhi Police unnecessarily intervened in the process. As for the JM Road blasts case, the Delhi police have produced only confessions and not any convincing evidences. This is not the first time that the Delhi police have intervened in the state agency’s work who were on the right track of investigation.

The special cell of Delhi Police has always been acting as Intelligence Bureau’s (IB) puppets and been manipulating the evidence. In the book that I have written, it is mentioned that the special cell of Delhi Police is nothing but the puppet of IB, wanting to hide the real culprits. The state agencies are pressured to work under the central agencies.
SM Mushrif, Former IGP

It is not right to pick on Pune police or ATS
The whole process of the JM Road bomb blasts investigation and how the Delhi police came out with a public statement on the same shows that the Pune police and the state ATS (Anti Terrorist Squad) team were altogether on the wrong track. It is not right to say why the Pune police or ATS were clueless for the last two months or blame them entirely. This shows there is lack of information sharing between the investigation agencies working at national, state and city-level. It shows that everyone is working in isolation. It is very important for the intelligence agencies, which are working for a common cause, to unite and work together. Probably combined efforts would have solved the JM Road bomb blasts case within a month, instead of two months.
Maj Gen (Retd) SCN Jatar, President, Nagrik Chetna Manch (NCM)

There is a need to reorganise intel system
The Delhi police were able to crack the Pune blasts case because this can happen once you get hold of the right source and one revelation leads to another. The Delhi police managed to pick up a reliable source and kept following their hunches. May be they got a link from investigating the bomb blasts that happened in Delhi, which revealed a connection with the Pune bomb blasts and they followed it up.

It is possible that there are some differences in the way ATS functions in our state. It is not correct to say that our agencies were clueless. However, it is necessary for the state agencies and police to become serious as Maharashtra has become a big terrorist hub, especially a city like Pune, where these terrorist sleeper cells are found to be operational. We have to learn from the JM Road blasts and not take it for granted.

It shows that there is lack of coordination between the intelligence agencies in our country, who instead of sharing information are hiding it. This tendency is dangerous for our country’s security. There has to be confidence and trust within the system. For example, before revealing about the breakthrough in the JM Road blasts case through a press conference, did the Delhi police take the Maharashtra police and ATS into confidence? They should have informed the state intelligence agencies 48 hours before they went public. It shows that there is a need for reorientation and reorganisation of the entire intelligence system and police functioning in our country so that they work as a network, not in isolation.
Lt Gen (Retd) DB Shekatkar