THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As part of efforts to strengthen the police intelligence wing, the state police is trying to take a leaf out of the counter intelligence activities of Telangana, which is known for its efficiency. A delegation of top officials led by ADGP (Intelligence) T.K. Vinod Kumar had recently visited Hyderabad to have a first hand feel of the counter intelligence infrastructure there.
According to police sources, the counter intelligence wing as well as the Organisation for Counter Terrorist Operations (OCTOPUS) of Telangana was much hailed for anti-naxal operations. Well trained officials, use of advanced electronic surveillance facilities and dedicated tracking of even minute inputs are the highlights of the Telangana's counter intelligence infrastructure. Top police sources told DC that Kerala was lagging much behind compared to the infrastructure of the intelligence wing of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. However, the threat perceptions of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are also higher compared to that of Kerala.
“It is almost impossible for us to scale up to that of their infrastructure all of a sudden. We are already initiating activities like social media monitoring. But we are trying to further strengthen our intelligence wing by adopting some models from other elite agencies,” said the official. Meanwhile, police sources said that a major weakness of the state intelligence wing is the transfer of officials with interventions of service organisations or other political and personal interests. “Even officials trained at elite intelligence agencies are shifted and officials who lack necessary skills are posted,” said a senior police officer.
