LAHORE: The government has established first-ever Special Investigation Group (SIG) to coordinate the functioning of various law-enforcing agencies and thwart terrorism threat.
The SIG is led by a commandant and assisted by three deputy directors and one DSP Legal. The lower cadre of the SIG include inspectors, sub-inspectors, assistant sub-inspectors and constables. Most of these officials, either serving or retired, have been inducted from the Special Services Group (SSG) of the army. FBI and Scotland Yard’s officials are exclusively giving training to the personnel of the SIG, sources said adding that they are being trained at Special Anti-Terrorism Cell established at the premises of the Sehala Police Training Centre. Almost all of the trainers are foreigners, especially from the US and UK, the sources added.
The SIG, a counter-terrorism force trained to find weapons of mass destruction and to deal with post-blast situations, formally began functioning in Islamabad and the four provincial capitals last month.
“The SIG officials will be provided modern training especially in the field of information collection about the terrorists and most wanted terrorists, detection of weapons of mass destruction”, sources said.
SIG agents, sources say, would focus their efforts on identifying and locating the ‘most wanted’ terrorist groups and individuals so that their financial resources can be checked and their networks broken. Another SIG objective is to combat organised crime syndicates which has trans-national ramifications.
The 37 regular SIG members, four liaison officers and 12 other officers have been trained by the American FBI on how-to-locate weapons of mass destruction, take post-blast action, trace terror financing, investigate money-laundering, combat corruption within law enforcing agencies, manage crises and improve techniques for fingerprinting and interviewing, the official said.
The SIG personnel can be sent anywhere in the country if the federal government feels that a particular incident might be linked to international or trans-national terrorism. “Once the force becomes fully operational, the Crisis Management Cell (CMC) working in Islamabad will be wound up and the commandant of the force will be directly answerable to the president in place of the chief of the CMC,” an official said.
Sources said the SIG agents would be empowered to arrest and prosecute terrorists already named in the FIRs. Besides monitoring suspected terrorist groups and members, the SIG will also help, where necessary, the provincial police forces to combat major crimes.
The SIG, which has an initial budget of Rs 110 million, is expected to co-operate with other law-enforcing agencies and to specifically assist the FIA in its development and implementation of a federal counter-terrorism plan.
The FIA’s Economic Crimes Wing will assist the SIG to investigate money-laundering through banks, financial institutions and offshore accounts maintained by the suspected individuals and groups.
The SIG will also work with the Immigration Wing to control the entry and exit of suspected and known terrorists from Pakistan.
The sources said that the FIA’s Crime Wing would help the SIG investigate cash flows to and from suspected terror groups and individuals through illegal monetary transactions. The SIG would also have a strong legal cell to follow through on cases from indictment to court trials at various levels of prosecution and appeals. The FIA chief will also be able to give the SIG funds to engage prosecutors to pursue legal cases.
The regular SIG members were recruited from the Intelligence Bureau, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and through the Federal Public Service Commission.
The members are only answerable to their field commanders rather than to police officials while the field commanders are accountable to the SIG commandant in Islamabad. The government is also planning to have deputy commanders for operations and administration in every province.
It is imperative to mention that a five-member team of Scotland Yard’s Anti-Terror Branch recently visited Pakistan and met the high-level police officials in Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi to evolve ways to monitor the performance of local agencies performing counter-terrorism duties.
British experts recommended the police to prepare a database, which should also include DNA samples of individuals who have been arrested and convicted. The sources said that the work on the criminals’ database and DNA samples had already been commenced. Once this job (of record of criminals and terrorists) is fulfilled, it will become easier to locate and arrest them, they added.
“We are in the process of establishing advanced intelligence collection units and preparing complete records of suspected terrorists”, sources said adding that such units would work to monitor the activity of and, if required, arrest suspected religious terrorists.
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its good to have these kind of training, but we always end up setting up new department for everything, anti terrorist courts etc, special police for motorway.
why dont we bring the whole new stanadard of training the cops then make specialised groups out for them.
for this, FIA already existed, why we needed a new thing?? i just cant figure it out.