Tamil Nadu govt issues order to form anti-terror squad
Additional funds of ₹28 crore will be provided for ATS in revised estimates during the next financial year, the government order added.
Chennai: Three decades after the country’s first Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) was formed in Maharashtra, the state of Tamil Nadu is set to form an ATS following a sanction by the state government, officials familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The ATS will function under the chief of Intelligence of the state police and will have state-wide jurisdiction with powers to take independent legal action in any part of Tamil Nadu, the officials added.
A senior official said, “All terrorism and fundamentalist related cases will now be handled by the ATS.” A government order sanctioning a sum of ₹60.1 crore for the wing was issued on November 18 by P Amudha, principal secretary of the state’s home department.
“The Anti Terrorism Squad will function under the overall supervision of additional director general of police [ADGP], Intelligence and this unit will have state-wide jurisdiction and shall be declared as police stations with respect to offences under specific acts and sections of IPC [Indian Penal Code] as proposed by director general of police [DGP]. It shall have all the necessary powers to take independent legal action in any part of Tamil Nadu as per order of director general of police/Head of Police Force, Tamil Nadu,” the government order said.
Additional funds of ₹28 crore will be provided for ATS in revised estimates during the next financial year, the government order added.
Earlier, chief minister MK Stalin had announced the formation of an ATS in the state assembly in April 2023. “An anti-terror squad will be formed in the state intelligence department with 383 personnel to effectively tackle terror activities,” Stalin had said.
The squad is likely to have its units in Madurai, Coimbatore, and Chennai. The squad will get intelligence gathering and analysis tools, digital forensic equipment and other operational equipment worth ₹18 crore, the official said. adding that 89 new vehicles have been sanctioned for their use. In emergency situations, ATS members are allowed to travel by air in economy class, he added.
Like a special commando force was formed to eliminate sandalwood bandit Veerapan in the 1990s, a police officer said that the ATS would be one of the “special units” of the Tamil Nadu police for counter-terrorism. Some personnel for the squad will be redeployed from the CB-CID special investigation division. Teams will be headed by an officer in the rank of deputy inspector general (DIG). As many as 36 ministerial staff will function as supporting staff to the anti-terrorism squad which will include legal advisor, psychologist, religious scholar and a socialists besides police personnel, the officer added.
The creation of the ATS comes months ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and amidst criticism by the opposition that Tamil Nadu’s law and order has deteriorated. The chief minister had directed the state police to keep vigil, on the people who cause communal unrest in a region, repeatedly during meetings. “While we prevent caste and communal violence, the focus should also be on people who fan communal tensions via social media. The number of such people is increasing, and they create unrest in the society,” Stalin had said during a law and order review meeting in July.
States such as Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh already have ATS units. Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare was killed in 2008 while fighting terrorists in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. “The unit was formed in advance so they were able to immediately mobilise their ATS during the attacks. Tamil Nadu didn’t have such a unit until now,” the official said.
