The proposed National Investigation Agency(NIA) should have Indian Police Service (IPS) officers at the helm of affairs, according to intelligence and security agencies whose views were sought by the Centre.
With the home ministry redoubling its efforts to make the NIA a reality as early as possible, the CBI, Intelligence Bureau, other security agencies and the newly constituted National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) have been approached for their opinion on the structure of the new organisation, official sources said.
A Bill for formation of the much-hyped National Investigation Agency was cleared by Parliament last week.
The NIA Bill was passed in Lok Sabha on December 16, while the Rajya Sabha passed it the next day. The organisations, from whom views were elicited, favoured IPS officers to be at the helm of affairs, the sources said.
Some organisations felt that the functioning of the proposed investigation agency could be on the lines of the CBI and RAW, India’s external intelligence agency, the sources said.
The operational personnel in the national capital could be drawn from the existing central staff \and security organisations, while in the states there could be permanent deputation from the state police, they said.
NIA will have concurrent jurisdiction which empowers the Centre to probe any attacks in any part of the country, covering offences including challenge to the country’s sovereignty and integrity, bomb blasts, hijacking of aircraft and ships and attacks on nuclear installations.
