Kashmir Impulse Desk
Hyderabad, Oct 17
India’s internal security environment has changed significantly, with cybercrime, narcotics trafficking and illegal immigration emerging as major challenges alongside terrorism, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan said on Saturday.
Addressing the graduation parade of the 78th regular recruit batch of Indian Police Service officers at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad, Mohan said policing would increasingly require technology-driven responses and closer coordination between agencies.
He conveyed a message from Home Minister Amit Shah calling for zero tolerance towards terrorism, timely action and improved intelligence sharing.
Mohan said social media platforms had created new law-and-order challenges through fake messages, deepfake videos and other manipulated content that could trigger public mobilisation.
Young police officers would need to develop innovative responses while ensuring their actions remained within the law, he said.
Mohan said militant Naxalism had largely ended and insurgency in the northeast had declined substantially, with many former insurgent groups entering the mainstream through ceasefire and tripartite agreements.
He said violence in some parts of the northeast was now largely driven by ethnic conflict rather than insurgency.
Homegrown terrorism had fallen to very low levels, Mohan said, while foreign-inspired terrorism remained a concern in some parts of the country. He cautioned, however, that the threat had not disappeared entirely.
The home secretary also highlighted the spread of cybercrime, citing the use of mule bank accounts and fake SIM cards to facilitate illegal activity. He said state and union territory authorities would remain central to efforts to counter such offences.
He called for stronger action against drug trafficking networks and said the government aimed to make India free of narcotics within three years.
Mohan also urged authorities to identify foreigners residing illegally in India and take action in accordance with the law. He cited cases involving online contract killings and threats routed through virtual private networks as examples of crimes that required law enforcement to keep pace with technology.
The government was encouraging the use of artificial intelligence in policing through a network of young IPS officers, he said.
A total of 151 officer trainees, including 37 women and 16 officers from neighbouring countries, participated in the parade, which marked the completion of the batch’s first phase of training.
