Indian security officials share tips with FBI sleuths

In the run-up to the ensuing India-US Homeland Security dialogue, 39 senior officials from the Central and state governments’ security agencies exchanged experiences and tips with the agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on crisis management and response, evidence recovery and processing and post-explosion investigation in Los Angeles last week.

They had exchanges with the officials of the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on mega-city policing. They also got an overview of digital evidence recovery, collection and analysis in the state-of-the-art Orange County Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory. The lab was opened last January for examination of digital evidences in cases ranging from homicides to terrorism to child pornography and fraud.

The FBI in partnership with the Indian government’s Ministry of Home Affairs arranged the exchanges in Los Angeles, ahead of the proposed visit of the premier US probe agency’s chief to New Delhi next month.

The FBI chief Robert Mueller is likely to meet his counterparts in the Central Bureau of Investigation and the National Investigation Agency and other top security officials, apart from calling on the Home Minister P Chidambaram, National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar
Menon and Home Secretary G K Pillai during his visit to New Delhi in May.

Mueller’s visit and his talks with the top security officials in India is part of the process to prepare the ground for the Homeland Security dialogue between New Delhi and Washington, which is likely to take place in June, with Chidambaram leading the Indian delegation and US  Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano leading the American side.

“All Indians and Americans alike benefit when our law enforcement officials work together in this way to bring to justice terrorists and criminals who target innocent civilians,” Timothy Roemer, the US Ambassador to India, said in a statement on the conclusion of the five-day Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar in Los Angeles.  He recalled the India-US collaborations in investigations into the November 26, 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai: “After the 26/11  attack, the FBI agents worked extensively with their counterparts in the Indian police and intelligence agencies. No red tape, no turf battles— just investigators standing shoulder-to-shoulder in cooperation at a time of crisis. Teams of forensic specialists pulled fingerprints from improvised explosive devices.

Damaged GPS devices were wired back together by FBI engineers to obtain valuable data. Agents from both countries testified in the trial of Ajmal Kasab to bring him to justice.” India and the US on July 23 last year signed the Counter Terrorism Initiative agreement to forge close and effective cooperation in counter-terrorism, information sharing and capacity building. Los Angeles was selected as the focal point for the seminar due to the international scope of policing and security issues the city faces and the infrastructure and partnerships it has established to confront the challenges.

“Los Angeles shares many of the same  security challenges as India’s mega-cities, such as organised crime, large economic offences, mass transit policing, maritime security,” it stated.