An agreement of this effect was reached at a high-level Meeting of officials of the Center and the UP Government held here. The meeting was called to review the law and order situation in the Terai region in the wake of recent militant attacks.
As many as 29 persons were abducted and killed by Punjab militants in the Mailani forest range falling under Shahjahan pur district early this month. Similar massacres took place earlier also.
The meetings were addressed by V.K Jain, Special Secretary Home, and other senior officials. The UP Government was represented by Principal Secretary (Home), Director Geneva of UP Police and the Director General (Intelligence), The Director of Intelligence Bureau at the Center and senior RAW officers were also present at the meeting.
At the meeting it was asked that the Center make available more funds to the State Government for Modernization of its police forces during the current financial year. The Center has already granted Rs 10 crores exclusively for the Terai area for anti-terrorist operation, according to an official release, As for modernization, the state has so far been given Rs 224 lakhs.
The Center, in course of the Meeting, impressed upon the UP Government to make full use of existing provisions of anti-terrorist legislation like TADA and NSA to effectively counter anti-terrorist activities not only to terrorists but also of those providing assistance and shelter to such elements. This should include arrest and forfeiture of their assets and properties, it was stated.
The UP officials mainly put forward their case for more central forces in the light to deteriorating law and order situation in the Terai, The sources of the state, they stated were spread too thin as far as deployment of security forces was concerned. This is because of massive requirement of security forces in and around Ayodhya and other communally sensitive places.
The state officials also sought to impress upon the Center that the state needed matching arms to counter the militants. This required huge funds.
On both counts, the Center reportedly appreciated the problems faced by the State Government. But the Center had its own difficulties interims of availability of central forces, While the strength of the Central forces was limited, there was more and more pressure from various state Governments, it was stated.
Even so, the Center agreed to make available more central forces for UP, withdrawn from other areas, depending upon the exigency of the situation. Currently, there were companies of Central forces stationed in UP, The state demanded a minimum of eight companies,
The Center simultaneously asked the UP Government to tighten its intelligence machinery in order to take preemptive action against militants.
Article extracted from this publication >> Aug 28, 1992
