NIA to recruit retired police officers to overcome manpower shortage

To tide over the manpower crisis, NIA the premier probe agency will recruit retired police officers. A notification to this effect has been issued to five branches of the NIA situated at Hyderabad, Patna, Ranchi, Lucknow and Guwahati.

New Delhi: As many as five branches of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) have decided to recruit retired police officials to assist the premier anti-terror agency. The NIA branches located at Hyderabad, Patna, Ranchi, Lucknow and Guwahati have been issued notifications for the engagement of retired police officers as "investigation experts". ETV Bharat is in possession of the document regarding the notifications issued by the NIA.

"The recruitment of experienced police officials will not only help in the investigation process but also facilitate distribution of works," a senior NIA official told ETV Bharat. Although officials in NIA join the organization on deputation, the agency to date has been fighting a manpower shortage, the official said.

"The engagement of retired or experienced police officials will be of much help to the NIA as the number of cases being handled by probe agency has gone up manifold," the official said. The Hyderabad, Patna and Ranchi branches of NIA have been planning to recruit five retired officials each, whereas the Lucknow branch will have two retired police officials and the Guwahati branch will require three retired officials.

"The retired police officials will be re-employed for one year. The provision of the extension will be up to five years or attaining age of 65 years, whichever is earlier," an NIA notification reads. During the recruitment process emphasis will be given to retired police officers of State and Central Police Organizations, IB, NTRO, Cabinet Secretariat, Customs, Income Tax, DRI, and DRDO. The retired police officials once recruited will support improving NIA's investigative skills for ensuring quality probing.

They will also provide assistance in improving skills in legal evidence gathering during the investigation. The retired officers also give tips on intelligence-gathering techniques, how to deal with new case law and legal changes, as well as improving drafting skills.

"The retired police officials will also provide training to juniors on how to deal with financial transactions and money laundering cases," the NIA said. The NIA manpower will be given training using the latest technological tools. At present the agency is working with a limited manpower strength of 850 officials ranging from inspector, DSP, and SP rank officials. The NIA often forwards notes to the other central paramilitary forces to send their officials to the agency.

"We also keep sending such proposals to the State police forces to send their officials to the NIA," the official said. The total sanctioned strength of NIA is 1,277. The agency has been planning to expand its branches across India by 2024. It is worth mentioning that NIA has recorded a 19.67 per cent increase in the registration of cases. It was 73 in 2022 in comparison to 61 cases registered in 2021.