NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday launched a new ‘Extradition Portal’ to streamline and speed up efforts to bring fugitives back to India, while calling for a stronger, technology-driven counter-terrorism mechanism under the government’s PRAHAAR strategy.
Inaugurating the conference on ‘PRAHAAR’ - Counter Terrorism (CT) Policy and Strategy’ here, Shah urged security agencies and state police forces to institutionalise an automated counter-terror response and ensure coordinated action at every level.
The HM said the government, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi' leadership, has adopted a “zero-tolerance” policy towards all forms and manifestations of terrorism. He stressed the need to continuously review and strengthen the ‘PRAHAAR’ framework through systematic analysis of terror incidents and called for a concrete strategy capable of guiding counter-terrorism efforts over the next decade.
Shah also emphasised that the principles of PRAHAAR must reach the police station level, with a proactive approach to every component of the framework. He called for result-oriented implementation of its various pillars and greater coordination among agencies to prevent delays in responding to terrorist threats.
The ‘PRAHAAR’ framework focuses on seven key pillars: Prevention, Response, Aggregating Internal Capacities, Human Rights, Attenuating Conditions for Terrorism, Aligning International Efforts, and Recovery and Resilience. The strategy envisages a whole-of-society approach to counter-terrorism.
Highlighting the government’s efforts to tackle terrorism and transnational crime, Shah said that between 2019 and 2026, 288 fugitive criminals had been brought back to India from 36 countries.
The Home Minister also cited the dismantling of more than 40 modules linked to the Shahzad Bhatti network, which he said was involved in the cross-border smuggling of weapons, explosives and narcotics. He said more than 100 FIRs were registered and 350 people were arrested across 15 states in connection with these operations.
Shah further said the government had declared the Shahzad Bhatti network a terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The conference brought together the Union Home and Foreign Secretaries, heads of Central Armed Police Forces and Central Police Organisations, police chiefs of 15 states and Anti-Terrorism Squad chiefs from all states and Union Territories. Other state police chiefs and senior police officers participated virtually.