The Central Govt.has said it would set up on March 1, 2012 a powerful anti-terror agency that will integrate and analyse inputs on terror threats in India and will have legal authority to make arrests and conduct search operations.
The order comes after the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on January 11, 2012 approved the creation of the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC), an agency to maintain data of terror modules, terrorists, their associates, friends, families and supporters.
It said the NCTC will derive powers from the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), which allows central government agencies to make arrests or searches in terror-related cases while keeping state police concerned into the loop.
Over a dozen chief ministers have opposed the creation of the NCTC, maintaining that it would hurt the federal structure of the country.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha have asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to convene a meeting of chief ministers to discuss the issue.
In a letter to 10 chief ministers, Home Minister P Chidambaram has assured them that the "next steps" on the NCTC would be taken only after the meeting of top officials of the states.
Representaties from Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Bihar voiced their concern at the high-level meeting on Monday March 12,2012 chaired by Home Secretary R K Singh in which state chief secretaries, home secretaries and police chiefs were present.Sources attending the meeting said that the states were opposing the formation of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) on the ground that the role of state police would be minimised in counter-terror operations.
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