NEW DELHI, Feb 19: Deputy National Security Advisor Nehchal Sandhu today lauded the help provided by Nepal in tracking down some of the most wanted terrorists and anti-social elements wanted by Indian security agencies.
“Nepal has played a very constructive role in helping India keep track of wanted terrorists and helping our law enforcement agencies in getting them,” Sandhu said as he mentioned the recent arrest of IM co-founder Yasin Bhatkal from the same area.
Sandhu, on the sidelines of a conference on IEDs here, said while there are “reliable accounts” on the strength of home-grown terror group Indian Mujahideen, the standard explosives used by this banned outfit remains to be SG-80 ( a type of gelatin stick used in bombs) and the chemical Ammonium Nitrate.
Speaking on the subject– ‘Terrorists Weapon of Choice: Improvised Explosive Device’ organised by counter-terror force NSG, the former Intelligence Bureau chief said security establishment over the times has seen innovative designs of IEDs used in various parts of the country.
Sandhu said IEDs are gaining currency amongst militants, Naxals and other terror groups as they leave no signature and are hard to detect by enforcement agencies.
He also said central paramilitary and state police forces, rather than shunning the use of mine protected vehicles in anti-Naxal operations, should use these armoured vans but only after strictly adhering to the protocols of their usage.
“I have never seen that in any IED blast the hull of the mine protected vehicle gets ripped off. The deaths of the troops occur as these vehicles are overloaded and the troops are not strapped by safety belts to their seats and they hit the metal roofs of the vehicle which kills them during the course of an IED explosion,” he said.
He also said security agencies have found that innovative ways are being employed to trigger IEDs, like the use of sunlight absorbing cells and even booby-trapping the bodies of dead soldiers.
During the event, National Security Guard chief Jayanto N Choudhury said the mine protecting vehicles have turned out to be termed as “coffins” because of their improper use.
“You increase the armour on the vehicles, the ultras increase the amount of explosive used in blowing them off…They look like coffins after a while. This whole business of protective vehicles has to be worked out,” he said.
The NSG Director General said “good intelligence” and information was the most vital tool in any operational theatre where the security agencies work.
Quoting from an official data, Choudhury said 50 per cent of the causalities in the country in violent incidents take place from the explosion of IEDs rather than by bullets or grenades.
Sandhu, during his speech, also mentioned the recent visit of a high-level delegation from Afghanistan which requested India to find them solutions on the subject of artificial limbs as many of their citizens and security forces personnel had lost their arms or legs in IED blasts. (PTI)
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