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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 000507 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PK IN
SUBJECT: PUNJAB, AN EXAMPLE OF STATE OPPOSITION TO INDIA'S 
NEW NATIONAL INVESTIGATION AGENCY 
 
REF: A. A. NEW DELHI 00405 
     ¶B. B. NEW DELHI 00412 
     ¶C. C. NEW DELHI 00420 
 
¶1. (SBU) After the Mumbai attacks in November 2008, the 
Indian government moved quickly to establish a National 
Investigation Agency (NIA) to investigate and prosecute 
terrorism cases.  The move stirred resistance from many 
states which view ceding power to a national agency as an 
infringement of states rights.  In a recent visit to Punjab 
to get a ground-level view, we found concerns about the new 
counterterrorism structure.  The Punjab police's confidence 
in their ability to combat terrorism is one motivating factor 
in their objection to the new agency.  This opposition will 
hamper the NIA's ability to successfully establish itself as 
a premier terror fighting agency.  The tension between the 
states and the Center over NIA was evident when Indian Home 
Minister P. Chidambaram and NIA director Radha Vinod Raju 
queried FBI Director Robert Mueller recently (reftels) about 
the FBI's experience in dealing with jurisdiction issues. 
End summary. 
 
Punjab Police Confident in CT Abilities 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Poloff traveled with noted criminal justice expert Dr. 
David Bayley of the University of Albany-SUNY to Chandigarh, 
Punjab to discuss reforms and administration with state 
police officials.  In a Q and A session following Dr. 
Bayley's lecture, Director General of Police (DGP) N.P.S. 
Aulakh was asked whether the counterterrorism (CT) function 
should be transferred to the newly formed NIA since terrorism 
is no longer a problem in Punjab.  The DGP firmly opposed 
such a proposal, explaining that the local police had been 
successful in dealing with terrorism so they should retain 
the primary CT function in Punjab.  He said having police 
"boots on the ground" provides an edge since they are better 
able to gather local intelligence than national or regional 
police. 
 
¶3. (SBU) A noted Indian police expert agreed with this 
assessment.  Dr. Ajai Sahni, Director of Institute for 
Conflict Management, also pointed to the Punjab police's 
success in eradicating terrorism as a good example of how 
India's police forces can combat terrorism more effectively 
than a national security force.  He cited this example to 
support his assessment that CT should be handled at the local 
level and not be transferred to a national agency. 
 
¶4. (U) Local police officials expressed concerns about crime, 
but were sanguine about the unlikelihood of a revival of 
terrorism that plagued Punjab in the past.  Dr. Navinder 
Bhargav, Deputy Director of General Administration at the 
Punjab Police Academy in Phillaur, said the Punjab police are 
more concerned about crime by seasonal workers from other 
states who evade arrest because they are not registered with 
the Punjab administration.  On Sikh extremism, Bhargav 
explained that the Punjab police eradicated terrorism from 
Punjab in the 1990s.  He noted that former extremists were 
drawn from the unemployed youth, but the better economic 
situation in the state today has dampened the interest of 
youth in such destructive activities.  In his view, Punjab 
witnessed a strong economic downturn and instability during 
the days of militancy and its people do not support a return 
to those dark days.  Inspector General of Police Pajag Jain 
expressed similar sentiments, adding that the Punjabi 
farmers, from whose ranks many of the disaffected youths were 
recruited, are more interested in tilling their fields than 
joining extremist groups today. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Punjab is only one of many states that object to the 
NIA.  States with past CT experience and successes believe 
they have a legitimate platform to argue for their continued 
 
NEW DELHI 00000507  002 OF 002 
 
 
primacy in terror related investigations.  States less 
experienced in CT also object to the NIA on the grounds that 
a national agency infringes on their rights since the Indian 
constitution delegates responsibility for law and order to 
the states rather than to Delhi.  The creation of the NIA was 
one of several GOI initiatives designed to strengthen India's 
terror fighting capacity after the Mumbai terror attacks. 
Opposition will inhibit the GOI's ability to stand up a 
central law enforcement agency that is the principal 
investigative agency for terror related attacks. 
WHITE