Mamata, Naveen oppose elite terror body

Kolkata/Bhubaneswar, Feb 17 (IBNS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh against Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's pet project National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) saying that it will infringe upon the independence of state and weaken the federal structure of India.

Last month the union cabinet cleared the idea of the NCTC to bolster the security architecture of the country to fight terrorism post the 26/11 Mumbai attack.

Now Mamata Banerjee and Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik seemed to be opposed to the idea and are demanding its withdrawal and review.

"It is difficult for the state government to accept such arbitrary exercise of power by the Central government... which have a bearing on the rights and privilege of the states as enshrined in the Constitution of India," Mamata Banerjee wrote in her letter.

"This has not been done in the instant case. The order, therefore, appears to be an infringement on the powers of state governments in matters of investigation and maintenance of order," she wrote.

Mamata Banerjee is opposed to the sweeping powers of the proposed NCTC which is scheduled to get operational from March 1.

The NCTC is planned as an elite counter terrorism body under union home ministry with an IPS officer of the rank of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Intelligence Bureau or above heading it as director.

The operations division of NCTC is empowered to arrest and carry out searches under Section 43 (A) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, a provision opposed by leaders like Mamata and Naveen.