New Delhi, Dec 2 (IANS) In the last five years, the government has declared 23 organisations, including SIMI and PFI, as Unlawful Associations, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai told Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

He said, in a written reply, that during the last five years, the first organisation to be declared unlawful was the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

The latest addition or the 23rd organisation to be declared unlawful is Awami Action Committee (AAC), he said.

Rai said the list of unlawful associations includes Popular Front of India (PFI) and its associates or affiliates or fronts including Rehab India Foundation (RIF), Campus Front of India (CFI), All India Imams Council (AIIC), National Confederation of Human Rights Organization (NCHRO), National Women’s Front, Junior Front and Empower India Foundation and Rehab Foundation, Kerala.

Highlighting achievements of the anti-terror National Investigation Agency (NIA), set up in the wake of the 26/11 attack, he said that it has now emerged as a globally renowned investigative agency, with a conviction rate of 92.44 per cent in judgments pronounced in 172 cases (out of the total 692 registered cases since its inception).

The footprint of NIA has been expanded pan-India, by establishing 21 branch offices in different parts of the country, with two Zonal Offices (in Guwahati and Jammu) and Headquarters at Delhi, he said, adding that it has a total of 1,901 sanctioned posts at present, out of which 769 posts have been sanctioned during the last five years.

Exclusive Divisions, such as ‘Anti Human Trafficking Division (AHTD)’, ‘Anti Cyber Terrorism Division (ACTD)’, ‘Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Cell’, ‘Financial Analysis Unit (FAU)’ and a Special Cell comprising of legal experts have also been created in the NIA, he said.

Rai said the Government has designated 52 NIA Special Courts across the country, out of which three NIA Special Courts at Ranchi, Jammu and Mumbai have been designated as the Special Courts exclusively for the trial of Scheduled Offences investigated by the Agency.

He said that a ‘National Terror Data Fusion and Analysis Centre (NTDFAC)’ has also been established in the NIA for enabling Big Data Analytics and facilitating the automation and digitisation of the various investigative processes, procedures that will strengthen supervision and enhance efficiency, consistency and accountability.

Rai said exclusive divisions, such as ‘Anti Human Trafficking Division (AHTD)’, ‘Anti Cyber Terrorism Division (ACTD)’, ‘Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Cell’, ‘Financial Analysis Unit (FAU)’ and a Special Cell comprising legal experts have also been created in the NIA.

He said to institutionalise India’s capacity in handling investigations that involve a foreign jurisdiction, a dedicated ‘Foreign Investigation Request Unit (FIRU)’ has been established within NIA in 2024.

“The NIA has been made the Nodal Agency at the Central level for investigation of Terror Funding and High Quality ‘Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN)’ cases, for which a ‘Terror Funding and Fake Currency (TFFC) Cell’ has been constituted in the NIA for conducting focused investigation,” he said.

–IANS

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