He also raised concerns over “a substantial increase in the number of communal incidents” in the country.

The Prime Minister released a commemorative postal stamp on the 125th anniversary of the Intelligence Bureau.

Addressing the Annual Conference of Director-Generals/Inspector Generals of Police here on its concluding day on Saturday, the Prime Minister referring to the resurgence of terrorist groups, particularly Lashkar-e-Taiba and increased infiltration attempts said “There is also a likelihood of attempts to disrupt the forthcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. The security forces also need to be careful and measured in their response to militant attacks as well as law and order disturbances.”

This year, Jammu & Kashmir has witnessed a few brazen attacks on our security forces. The situation along the International Border and the Line of Control, particularly in Poonch district of Jammu region has remained volatile with several ceasefire violations, he said.

Noting a substantial increase in the number of communal incidents this year, Dr Singh made pointed reference to the recent Muzaffarnagar incidents. He said : “A major communal clash in Muzaffarnagar and the adjoining districts of Western Uttar Pradesh in September took a large toll of lives and displaced thousands of innocent people. This is most worrisome. It sounds like a cliché but is necessary to say that we simply cannot afford such a state of affairs to continue. Our law and order agencies must, therefore, ensure that trivial or local issues are not exploited by vested interests to flame communal passions. And once disturbances occur they must be tackled with the utmost firmness and speed, without prejudice, fear or favour. The State Governments have the responsibility to ensure this, and State DGPs present here have the responsibility to ensure that their police forces act in the required manner in preventing communal tensions and dealing with them once they do take place. I expect all State DGPs to discharge this responsibility fully.”

On Thursday while inaugurating the conference the Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde cautioned the nation to the attempts being made to vitiate communal harmony, especially in Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.

Dr Singh blamed the misuse of social media and short messaging services through mobile phones responsible for fanning violence during the recent disturbances in Muzaffarnagar . He said ; “also last year, when disinformation spread through these means contributed to a mass exodus of people belonging to the North-East from southern States like Karnataka. It is widely accepted that social media facilitates exchange of knowledge, information and ideas and can be used for constructive purposes. Therefore, in preventing its misuse we need to find creative solutions which do not unreasonably curb the freedom of expression and the ease of communication that social media does provide.”

The chief of the Intelligence Bureau, Asif Ibrahim mooted the proposal of bringing “foreign content providers under the ambit of Indian law.”

The Prime Minister also called for ensuring cyber security not only through technological solutions but also through designing processes and to face the growing challenges of metropolitan policing.

Inaugurating the conference on Thursday, the Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said “While all these States have witnessed a rising trend in the number of communal incidents this year, the most disturbing communal clashes took place in Muzaffarnagar and its adjoining areas in Western UP. More than 50 people lost their lives and nearly 50,000 people were displaced as a result of violence. In most of these States, the triggering factors for communal incidents were trivial in nature and could have been nipped in the bud by effective, prompt and unbiased administrative action. It is essential for all District Administrations to put in place an early warning system for immediate detection of communal issues. For this, local administrations should maintain constant engagement with all communities, particularly in disturbance prone areas. I am happy to learn that this Conference would devote considerable time to evolve a strategy in this regard.”

He blamed the social media for being responsible to an extent for the spread of violence. He, however, was not in favour of curbing the freedom of expression. He said : “A related issue is that of misuse of social media. While Government favours freedom of expression, mischievous use of this medium to foment trouble needs to be checked. Last year, social media was exploited by vested interests to generate fear amongst the people of the North East in Bangalore, which resulted in their exodus in large numbers. More recently, the Muzaffarnagar riots were fanned by similar misuse. Once again, I am glad that this Conference has taken up these issues as part of its agenda, to discuss in detail and find a way forward.”

He further said : “On the subject of misuse of cyber space, I would also like to draw your attention to the attempts being made to revive militancy in certain States by unleashing distorted narrative about emotive events and issues on the internet to mislead and misguide the youth. One such sinister attempt was nipped in the bud by an alert Punjab Police. It had come to notice recently that in Punjab some self-radicalised groups had made attempts to vitiate the atmosphere by targeting some important leaders. We need to closely monitor such situations arising out of the pernicious propaganda circulating on certain websites.”

In the fight against terrorism, the Multi Agency Centre (MAC) has proved to be an effective tool for proper coordination between Central and State agencies. The scope of MAC is now being extended to more than 450 districts across the country.

The home minister gave an account of internal security challenges. India is facing multifarious challenges in the form of militancy in J&K, insurgency in some parts of the North East, the threat of Left Wing Extremism and terrorism in hinterland of the country. Indian Mujahiddeen, which draws its motivation and sustenance from inimical forces operating from across the Western border has been responsible for 3 out of 4 major terrorist attacks in our hinterland this year. These include Hyderabad twin blasts and the series of blasts at Bodhgaya and Patna. Another blast that took place in Bangalore was the handiwork of some misguided fundamentalist youth and remnants of Al-Ummah. However, I am happy to inform you that all these cases have been successfully worked out. I compliment officers of Intelligence agencies and Police Forces for having made critical breakthroughs in this regard. Here, I would like to make a special mention of the apprehension of Yasin Bhatkal who was wanted in a large number of cases of bomb blasts in different parts of the country. Our security agencies have also arrested Abdul Karim also known as Tunda, a wanted terrorist in different bomb blast cases. These arrests constitute a major breakthrough in our fight against the terrorism and demonstrate the resolve of the Goverenment of India to bring to justice all those who commit crimes of terrorism in our country. It is important that the leads emanating from the investigations are vigorously pursued to apprehend all those associated with this network. Our security forces have to remain constantly alert and act in a cohesive manner to deal with these challenges.