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that Police responsibilities can be ‘off-loaded’,in any significant measure, to citizens, or tothe increasingly fashionable panacea of privatecorporations, needs to be strongly discouragedamong the Police leadership.If the Police and intelligence apparatus in Indiais to embrace and execute its fullest mandate,both State and Central agencies will haveto enormously augment their capacities andcapabilities, and learn to pull together. Such aneffort, however, will have to be preceded bya far deeper understanding and appreciation,within the Police leadership, of the nature andsignificance of intelligence, and of their role inits acquisition and employment. The unfortunatereality is that enormous distance has progressivelybeen created between the grassroots of law andorder management and the superintending Policeestablishment, and this has worked to the abidingdetriment of both crime control and intelligencework.I recall that, when I got my first District, lessthan 14 years after Independence, I was postedto Naogaon, a communally sensitive District, byHaider Hussain, then IG of Police. At the SP’sOffice there, I discovered certain old boundrecords in the almirahs. In these, I found the mostdetailed records, including, for instance, the annualhistories of dacoities in India, disseminated bythe Intelligence Bureau. I also found the volumesof weekly intelligence reports sent out by earlierSPs, written in their own hand. I found similarrecords in my subsequent posting to Tezpur, withdetailed, hand written correspondence between,for instance, the SP and the lG, on a range ofintelligence and administrative issues. Over theyears, however, such practices fell into disuse. SPsstopped writing reports in hand, and these camenormally to be prepared by subordinate officers,often the Inspector who was heading intelligencein the District, and were merely corrected andsigned by the SP, and sent on to the DIG CID,who oversaw Intelligence and Crime. This wasnot merely a technological shift — with theadvent of the typewriter and later, the computer— but a major psychological and administrativeshift, reducing such tasks to a bureaucraticroutine, and snapping the vital link between thesuperintending officer and the continuous flowsof intelligence generated within his jurisdiction.This problem has been further compoundedby the fact that hardly anyone wants to go intothe intelligence system, except to the lB. This isparticularly the difficulty within the lower echelonsof the State Police apparatus, there is extremereluctance among most of the subordinate ranksto be posted into the intelligence department.I think the central intelligence system has alsosuffered in some measure as a result of the systemof earmarking officers to the lB at inception. Ibelieve all officers must work in the Districts fora substantial tenure. Keeping the lB as a closedhouse has not helped it in its capabilities torecruit intelligence sources and develop efficientinformation networks.Another factor that has undermined the qualityof intelligence is the growing corruption andpoliticization of the Police Force. No policing andintelligence apparatus can perform its functionswith requisite competence, if it is compromisedby corruption, or where its officers and personnelare mixed up with the very people they are meantto monitor. Nor can an intelligence system fulfilits mandate if it is constantly looking to pleasepolitical masters by telling them what they wantto hear, rather than what is actually the case; orworse, when the agencies are directly involvedin orchestrating political mischief — somethingneither State nor Central agencies are innocentof. On at least some occasions, the consequencesof this last deviation have been devastatingto the national interest. This was certainly thecase in the initial troubles in Assam and inPunjab, for both of which the nation has paidan extraordinary price. In the external sphere,the record of India’s meddling with the Tamilinsurgency in its early phases in Sri Lanka readsas a cautionary tale against such waywardness.At least in the Sri Lanka case, and on the externaldimension, lessons appear to have been learned.On the domestic front, however, the seductionof political manipulation through an abuse ofthe intelligence agencies, even to the extremedetriment of law, remains great and agenciesneed to be watchful of the same.It is clear that the intelligence apparatus in India,today, is hobbled by a range of defects andinfirmities, and a tremendous effort is required forits reconstruction, at both the State and Central90The Indian Police Journal, October - December, 2012, Special Issue
levels. The deficiencies of one part of the systemshould not become the grounds for an inordinateemphasis on developing other parts. The inabilityof many States to pull their weight cannot be anexcuse to attempt to replace their networks withan overwhelming Central apparatus. There mustbe acute consciousness of the natural confinesand limitations of each system, as well as of theircomparative strengths and advantages. Turf warsare, at least occasionally, inevitable in any systemof shared power and responsibility, but they mustnot be allowed to subvert the national interest.There is a tremendous and mounting challengeof governance, of security, and of law and ordermanagement in India today, and every nationalinstitution appears to be in, or headed for, a crisis.At such a time, the intelligence apparatus has ahuge role to play, and each of its failures, errorsand excesses will be magnified manifold. It is oflittle utility, in the complex scenario that presentlyprevails, to propose ideal or utopian solutions;the Police and intelligence leadership will haveto function within the vagaries of the given stateof affairs. This will demand even greater integrity,commitment and sense of purpose on the partof the national security leadership. I am deeplyaware of the many and grave failings of thisleadership. Nevertheless, I am also witness to thefact that, when the national interest is at stake, thesame leadership has demonstrated extraordinarycapacities of dedication, courage and sacrifice.Though no single crisis or challenge, today,constitutes a decisive threat to the national interest,the cumulative impact of the many disorders andinfirmities that afflict the system is tantamount toan existential threat to India. It is now time, onceagain, as in so many past instances, for India’ssecurity leaders and Forces to prove themselves.The Indian Police Journal, October - December, 2012, Special Issue 91
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The Indian Police JournalOctober -
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From the Director’s DeskNew Delhi
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23rd December, 1887: TheJourney beg
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Courtesy - National Archives of Ind
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The Logo released on the completion
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Helmsmen of the IB during thePre-In
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SHRI V.G. VAIDYA, IPS(MAR 1992 TO J
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“Sleeman sahib ki jai”“No Cri
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their life and their problems relat
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Settling down of criminal tribes wa
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perish. Between 1841 and 1848, anot
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In conclusion, I would like to reco
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own race alone, had to be withdrawn
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a bee in his bonnet” 17 , and abo
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epresented by Tilak and his followe
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The agency more and more fine-tuned
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US was brewing, one William Hopkins
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came under the control of Indian mi
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neutralised many efforts by inimica
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e published by the Intelligence Bur
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As DD (Security), IB, I had occasio
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Chhomohlohri, all of them juxtapose
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Dormers Building, ShimlaThe Dormers
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eforms. Warren Commission, on the a
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and systems will increasingly come
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violence and destabilisation. This
Page 53 and 54: one develop. The all pervasive cult
Page 55 and 56: etween the states and the centre su
Page 57 and 58: Intelligence Agencies inIndian Demo
Page 59 and 60: Democracies are, today, everywhere
Page 61 and 62: depend substantially on the restrai
Page 63 and 64: Of Pistols and Pigs andthe Old Tidd
Page 65 and 66: it is lovingly caressed hundreds of
Page 67 and 68: Through the Eyes of an IB OfficerSh
Page 69 and 70: an Intelligence agency. He used to
Page 71 and 72: My J&K ExperienceShri R.K. Kapoor,
Page 73 and 74: there. We remained stranded there f
Page 75 and 76: Scaling Himalayan Heights withthe I
Page 77 and 78: proceed to Dungti to supervise the
Page 79 and 80: tour of the White House and Lincoln
Page 81 and 82: into unconsciousness two hours earl
Page 83 and 84: which was completed successfully wi
Page 85 and 86: leaders. This happened around the t
Page 87 and 88: My Unforgettable Yearsin the North-
Page 89 and 90: stated that Prakash Singh, Assistan
Page 91 and 92: take her into confidence. That woul
Page 93 and 94: Police - Intelligence InterfaceShri
Page 95 and 96: Shreekant Bapat and I surveyed the
Page 97 and 98: excellence, dedication and commitme
Page 99 and 100: Immigration, Inter-State Disputes,
Page 101 and 102: Observations on India’s State and
Page 103: assessments that arose after the ca
Page 107 and 108: of laying a network of useful roads
Page 109 and 110: Technology in Intelligence-Future S
Page 111 and 112: These are just some of the aspects
Page 113 and 114: Figure 6: Open Source Information o
Page 115 and 116: events) and inference from evidence
Page 117 and 118: 9North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Page 119 and 120: Shri Dave was posted back to the lB
Page 121 and 122: He even suggested separate pay scal
Page 123 and 124: The Unsung HeroesThe Intelligence B
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