Mumbai: Post-26/11, there has been a significant change in the way the babus and politicians looked at the Intelligence department. Maharashtra today has a separate Intelligence cadre. The first batch had passed out in the mid of 2009 and the boys and girls are doing well – as probationers.
Designated now as Assistant Intelligence Officer, they would rise higher up in the hierarchy. "The word 'police' would not be added to their designation. We want to be more professional. AIOs, then IOs and so on," said a senior official of Maharashtra’s State Intelligence Department (SID).
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Currently who get posted into the SID or Special Branches often refer to their assignment as "side posting", and wait for going back to the police stations or crime branches. "A posting to intelligence was often used to be considered a punishment. But now we have a separate cadre, once you join here, you retire from here," said an official.
Currently, those who get attachments or posted to Special Branch (SB) or SID were trained at the Special Branch Training School located in Mumbai.
But now, a new training facility has also come up in Pune - and the future batches would be trained in Pune and not in Mumbai.
Interestingly, Pune also houses the headquarters of State Crime Investigation Department (CID), an important wing of the police force - and also the Military Intelligence Training School - where Indian Army officers and men are trained. The Air Force Intelligence School is also located in Pune. The National Defence Academy, the premier armed forces institute for training officers and the Institute of Armament Technology is also located here so as the Armed Forces Medical College.
The course module would extensive – they were taught tradecraft, political science, history, history of various religions, social issues, labour issues, languages, different aspects of terrorism and so on. "The course module is quite extensive and has been modeled after extensive research," the sources said, adding that the training was held in Mumbai. For future batches, the training would be held in Pune.
The need for a dedicated cadre was felt after the July 11, 2006 train blasts – however, the process was speeded up after the Mumbai terror attacks. After the Mumbai attacks, the Maharashtra government immediately announced that the dedicated cadre would be set up and finally the first batch commenced in January itself.
Currently, those who get attachments or posted to Special Branch (SB) or SID were trained at the Special Branch Training School located in Mumbai.
But now, a new training facility has also come up in Pune - and the future batches would be trained in Pune and not in Mumbai.
Interestingly, Pune also houses the headquarters of State Crime Investigation Department (CID), an important wing of the police force - and also the Military Intelligence Training School - where Indian Army officers and men are trained. The Air Force Intelligence School is also located in Pune. The National Defence Academy, the premier armed forces institute for training officers and the Institute of Armament Technology is also located here so as the Armed Forces Medical College.
The course module would extensive – they were taught tradecraft, political science, history, history of various religions, social issues, labour issues, languages, different aspects of terrorism and so on. "The course module is quite extensive and has been modeled after extensive research," the sources said, adding that the training was held in Mumbai. For future batches, the training would be held in Pune.
The need for a dedicated cadre was felt after the July 11, 2006 train blasts – however, the process was speeded up after the Mumbai terror attacks. After the Mumbai attacks, the Maharashtra government immediately announced that the dedicated cadre would be set up and finally the first batch commenced in January itself.
