INTERVIEW OF THE MONTH
Mr. G M Srivastava,
 DG, Tripura Police

From the killing fields of counter-insurgency operations to the exalted precincts of the Muse-the gap apparently is unbridgeable . But Tripura’s incumbent DGP Mr G.M.Srivastava has achieved this quite effortlessly . A dynamic man endowed with the qualities of head , heart and poetic sensibility Mr Srivstava has come a long way from his professorial assignment of Benaras Hindu University (BHU), a journalist with a national daily to the hard and cut-throat daily ordeals of a senior police officer fighting demented insurgents in order to safeguard the unity and integrity of the nation . As additional DGP, Assam and later as IG CRPF in the troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir Srivastava carved a niche for himself  through his no-nonsense approach against separatist militants. It was with high hopes that government of Tripura inducted him as DGP this year and over the past few months of his incumbency Mr Srivastava has acquitted himself  well with promises of better things to come in future. In this interview the Mr Srivastava has put forth his views on insurgency and related problems afflicting Tripura and Northeast.

1) It has been nearly three months since you took over charge of the Tripura police as DG. What is your impression of the state in general and the force you are leading in particular?

Ans:- The State of Tripura is a progressive State and inspite of all efforts of militants the development work is progressing fast. The people are educated and cultured. It has the potential of tourism and natural resources. Talking about the force, I can tell you that Tripura Police is one of the finest forces that we have in the country. Our TSR units are simply excellent.

2) Before taking over the responsibility of Tripura police you had fought insurgency in Assam and J&K. Do you find any difference between Tripura militancy and those in other states?

Ans :-The profile of militancy in J&K is quite different from that of Assam and Tripura. There it is a proxy war with the neighbouring country which has direct involvement in every militant activity that takes place in J&K. The insurgency profile of Assam and Tripura militancy have quite a few things in common but they have differences as well. Of course one thing which is prominently common is the involvement of ISI and use of Bangladesh as their main base for their operations, training and so on.

3) It is reported that like other North East militants, both the ATTF and NLFT extremists are also holed up in neighbouring Bangladesh. It is also reported that they get active support from forces of Bangladesh inimical to India and also from ISI. How do you, as chief of Tripura police, think militants with international links can be combated effectively?

Ans:- I agree with your observations regarding ATTF and NLFT extremists being holed up in neighbouring country. As regards combating militancy with international links we can always use the national and international fora  and diplomatic pressures to achieve success.

4) There are increased instances of land mine blasts in the state. Do you apprehend more such incidents in the new year? To counter this ominous development in guerrilla warfare and also to prevent mass massacres how do you plan to lead the police?

Ans:-The militants resort to land mine generally in their initial stage of formation or when they are desperate or scared of taking on the security forces face-to-face and are on run because of the extensive pressure and pro-active operations by the security forces. We are  sensitising  our  forces  and  adding  to our security arrangement new equipments which are capable of detecting such mine to a great extent. It is very heartening to find the people of this State especially in the interiors coming forward to assist us in this regard.

5) Do you think the present strength of the security forces in Tripura is enough to counter the extremists, or you need more SF from centre ?

Ans:- By and large the present strength can take on the situation. However, more force in any form is a welcome thing.

6) There were often allegations of lack of coordination between the security forces involved in the counter- insurgency operations. Do you think there should be a new approach for strengthening the concerted CI Ops in Tripura by the SF and police?

 Ans:- At least I have not noticed this lack of co-ordination in counter-insurgency operations in my last 3 months. In fact there is a very intense co-ordination and a number of operations have been conducted jointly which has given good results. We have our in-built system to ensure proper and meaningful co-ordination at all levels.

7) There are also allegations of corruption, mismanagement and shortage of officers at middle and field levels in the TSR, which adversely affect the morale, and performance of the elite striking force of the state. What  would  you like to say about it?

Ans:- This question appears to be more hypothetical than based on facts and figures. Temporary shortage of a few officers in any force is a normal phenomenon which occurs due to retirement or prioritisation of task, at times.

8) It is by now a familiar experience in Tripura that deployment of forces in pursuit of insurgents  after any incident takes too much time, giving the assailants  enough time to flee to a safe distance. Is there any plan to form a crack commando team to react fast in case of insurgent attack ?

Ans:- Re-action time more often depends on the time taken in informing the police, distance of place of occurrence from the Police Station and the terrain. We have already gone into opening a large number of posts in the interiors to cut down this delay. We are also upgrading our intelligence gathering machinery and trying to strengthen the posts both by increasing strength and equipments required. The formation of Crack Cammando teams is definitely under our consideration.

9) It is said that the  weakest  point in the state police is its intelligence-gathering network. Do you have any specific plan to strengthen the intelligence services of the state police ?

Ans:-The intelligence gathering machine of the State has been performing very well but there is always a scope for improvement in any system. Under the given circumstances, we are having a plan to upgrade, strengthen and making the present system more effective and responsive to our counter-insurgency ops requirement. More details can not be shared at this stage.

10) Some of the political leaders of Tripura are reportedly maintaining direct links with the insurgents. How  would you like to deal with these political elements ? INPTpresident Bijoy Hrangkhawl is facing charges of sedition and the CID is probing into the case. It is generally believed that  sending  a case to the CID means  putting it  in the cold storage. What is the latest position of the case and when the CID is expected to conclude ?

Ans:-One has to be more specific before such comments can be passed or taken into consideration for a media interview. CID does not take long time without valid reasons. To take due note of all possible factors it requires more time than normally required for  ordinary investigations.

11) It is generally believed that attacks on ULFA commander in Chief Paresh Baruah in foreign country was actually masterminded by you as ADG (Operations) in Assam. What  would you like to say about it?

Ans:- My operational activities of Assam are not very relevant in the present context of this interview. However, I would like to share with you that I have very good contacts in the outfit and do have my men in their group who at times might have re-acted in certain situations within the organisation. I am not authorised to operate beyond the borders of my country hence, no more comments.

12) The last is a question that relates to you personally. You were a student of Indology, a teacher in Benaras Hindu University and a journalist before joining the police service. You are also a poet. Would you have made it better as a professor or a journalist or a poet, had you not joined the police ? Or you think you are better off as cop ?