Bengaluru police get special cell to tackle terrorism

An Anti-Terrorism Cell (ATC) has started functioning under the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Bengaluru police.

The ATC is one of the three new wings added to the special branch of the city police. Two other new squads are the Anti-Narcotics Wing and the Women Protection Wing.

“The new wings target three important areas: monitoring terrorist activities, checking the drug menace and ensuring the safety of women,” said Sandeep Patil, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime).

“We have created separate wings for them as it was earlier difficult for officers to focus on both the areas,” Patil added.

The Women and Narcotics Wing will be henceforth called the Anti-Narcotics Wing and will focus only on the drug menace. The Homicide and Burglary Squad will be in charge of the Women Protection Wing, which will handle crimes against women, control of prostitution, human trafficking, etc. The Home and Burglary Squad would be merged with the Organised Crime Wing.

The ATC will tackle terrorist activities. It will have the powers to supervise, investigate and track terror-related cases.

The Organised Crime Wing will handle rowdy activities while the Special Enquiry Cell will be tasked with cases referred by courts and senior officers. The Economic Offences Wing will investigate major economic offences and Ponzi scams.

Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao said Patil would head all the six wings in the CCB. He would be assisted by two deputy commissioners.