The Indian police should learn from Mumbai ATS that fake encounters and torture of innocents will be counter productive and result in more alienation but following Mumbai ATS steps taken in the article will be productive.
Good job done by ATS, particularly Hemant Karkare who started these programs.
Mumbai police reform would-be militants: report
AFP: Mumbai police reform would-be militants: report
(AFP) 5 days ago
MUMBAI Police in Mumbai have successfully "reformed" 15 potential Islamist extremists as part of a new "hearts and minds" approach to counter-terrorism, a report said Monday.
The Mumbai Mirror newspaper said that instead of arresting and jailing such individuals, the city's Anti-Terrorism Squad was now using them as a vital part of its intelligence-gathering operation.
"After identifying such people, we counsel them," ATS chief K.P. Raghuvanshi was quoted as saying.
"We have in place an elaborate process where we try to make them understand the futility of their supposed religious war and wean them away from their jihad mentality. We have already reformed about 15 such people.
"A reformed jihadi will not only stop others from becoming terrorists but is also a good source of intelligence. It is part of our non-combat strategy to counter terrorism."
One of the police's successes was a 22-year-old Muslim man from south Mumbai, who spent three months at a training camp run by the banned, Pakistan-based Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the tabloid said.
He was supposed to be part of a sleeper cell in the city awaiting orders to strike until he came to the police's attention, the report said.
Ten gunmen, allegedly trained, equipped and financed by LeT, attacked Mumbai in November last year, killing 166 people and wounding more than 300 in a wave of strikes on landmark targets across the south of the city.
Raghuvanshi's predecessor was shot dead as he responded to the attacks. His alleged killer, Pakistani national Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, is currently on trial.
The ATS chief told the newspaper that radicalised youths are brought to police headquarters and encouraged to talk.
Officers then "logically counter their misplaced idea of injustice and express solidarity with their genuine grievances", such as prejudice and violence against Muslims in India, he added.
Police also seek to convince the young men that they are pawns in a bigger game and of the potential consequences if they act on their radical views.
Muslim clerics are also brought in to tell them that the killing of innocent people is contrary to Islamic belief, another unnamed ATS officer was quoted as saying.
The programme includes help for the young men, many of whom are unemployed, to set up in business.
"We build such relationships with these people that they give us information about who in their colony or community is being contacted for indoctrination or if any sleeper cells are being formed," the officer said.
Good job done by ATS, particularly Hemant Karkare who started these programs.
Mumbai police reform would-be militants: report
AFP: Mumbai police reform would-be militants: report
(AFP) 5 days ago
MUMBAI Police in Mumbai have successfully "reformed" 15 potential Islamist extremists as part of a new "hearts and minds" approach to counter-terrorism, a report said Monday.
The Mumbai Mirror newspaper said that instead of arresting and jailing such individuals, the city's Anti-Terrorism Squad was now using them as a vital part of its intelligence-gathering operation.
"After identifying such people, we counsel them," ATS chief K.P. Raghuvanshi was quoted as saying.
"We have in place an elaborate process where we try to make them understand the futility of their supposed religious war and wean them away from their jihad mentality. We have already reformed about 15 such people.
"A reformed jihadi will not only stop others from becoming terrorists but is also a good source of intelligence. It is part of our non-combat strategy to counter terrorism."
One of the police's successes was a 22-year-old Muslim man from south Mumbai, who spent three months at a training camp run by the banned, Pakistan-based Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the tabloid said.
He was supposed to be part of a sleeper cell in the city awaiting orders to strike until he came to the police's attention, the report said.
Ten gunmen, allegedly trained, equipped and financed by LeT, attacked Mumbai in November last year, killing 166 people and wounding more than 300 in a wave of strikes on landmark targets across the south of the city.
Raghuvanshi's predecessor was shot dead as he responded to the attacks. His alleged killer, Pakistani national Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, is currently on trial.
The ATS chief told the newspaper that radicalised youths are brought to police headquarters and encouraged to talk.
Officers then "logically counter their misplaced idea of injustice and express solidarity with their genuine grievances", such as prejudice and violence against Muslims in India, he added.
Police also seek to convince the young men that they are pawns in a bigger game and of the potential consequences if they act on their radical views.
Muslim clerics are also brought in to tell them that the killing of innocent people is contrary to Islamic belief, another unnamed ATS officer was quoted as saying.
The programme includes help for the young men, many of whom are unemployed, to set up in business.
"We build such relationships with these people that they give us information about who in their colony or community is being contacted for indoctrination or if any sleeper cells are being formed," the officer said.
