Manipur ambush probe: Wrong data base leads to embarrassing start

Bengaluru, June 9: The Manipur ambush in which 18 soldiers were killed showed us how prepared terrorist groups were. However what followed also shows us how un-prepared the data regarding these terrorist groups and their members are.

The probe into the Manipur ambush in which 18 soldiers were killed got off to a wrong start with the National Investigating Agency having to re-do the First Information Report.

While the NIA had stated in its FIR that the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) or the NSCN-K was behind the incident, it got the names of two members wrong. The NIA had mentioned the names of Kughalu Molatonu and Alezo Chakesang in the FIR while these persons are no longer part of the outfit.

Who is to blame?

It is the state police which needs to be blamed here. They have the information on the ground and it is they who had named the above mentioned two members in the FIR after the incident took place. According to the FIR of the Manipur police, Chalesang and Molatonu have been described as the General Secretaries of the NSCN-K.

However these persons are not part of the group any longer. It is said that the two persons had left the group four years back over differences. The NIA while registering the FIR had just picked up the information from the details put forth by the Manipur police.

NIA will re-do FIR:

The NIA FIR will now have to be re-done. The Home Ministry has told the NIA to make the necessary corrections in the FIR. While the rest of the information is correct, the NIA will have to omit the two names it has mentioned.

Sources say that it is a bit of an embarrassing situation for both the the NIA and the Manipur police and shows the lack of home work especially when the insurgency in North East is on the rise.

In the FIR the NIA had blamed the NSCN-K, KCK and the KYKL. The NIA says that the NSCN-K played the primary role while the other two gave support.

Need to re-work information:

While such slip ups are bound to happen considering the number of break ups and splits among terror groups, it is still important to have an updated data base. Intelligence Bureau officials say that many times the information is provided to the police but they take ages before updating the information.

Fortunately the error was pointed out immediately and rectified. Had the same not been pointed out, the NIA would have spent a lot of time chasing the wrong people. There is a need to have a up to date data base on terrorist groups and their members.

It is important to have information regarding these members and groups on the click of a button. This way the police and the NIA would waste no time in chasing down the culprits. A wild goose or a wrong chase does more damage to the probe.

OneIndia News