NIA research cell focused on terror groups soon: Rajnath

Hyderabad: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said that a research cell focused on terror groups, including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), will come up in the country soon.  

The Union government recently approved a proposal in this regard submitted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Union Minister said after inaugurating the agency’s office and residential complex in the city.  

The creation of the research cell is part of efforts to strengthen the investigative wing to deal effectively with the growing the menace of terrorism, he said.  The research cell would help analyze the status of terror links within and outside the country from time to time.  Over 100 new posts would be created, he added.  
    
Asserting that it was high time terrorists were weeded out from the country, Rajnath said that India is drawing immense support from across the world in its fight against terrorism.   

The invitation to India (non-Islamic country) from the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC), which is meeting in Abu Dhabi, is evidence of the support extended to the country in its fight against terrorism.  Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj was attending the ongoing OIC meeting on behalf of India.  
    
Maintaining that it is wrong to affiliate a religion to terrorists, the Minister said that the NIA, since its inception 10 years ago, has been playing a prominent role as the central counter terrorism law enforcement agency in the country. He applauded the deeds of NIA as effective and professional.

The conviction rate of 92 percent in the cases dealt by the NIA reveals that it is far more effective than other investigative agency in the world, Rajnath said and appealed to the agency to work hard and increase the conviction rate to cent percent in the years ahead. 

The Minister said that due the effective role played by the NIA, the Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) funding to terrorists has drastically come down. The NIA, in coordination with other central agencies in the country and with the help of state government agencies, rooted out the fake note problem. 

The NIA officials said that the Hyderabad complex, spread over 12, 572 square meters with administrative and residential flats for its staffers, was constructed at an approximate cost of Rs 37 crore.