Home ministry forms two new divisions to track and assess global terrorist outfits, cyber crimes

New Delhi: The Union home ministry, as part of an administrative rejig, has formed two new divisions to exclusively deal with emerging security challenges such as radicalisation and cyber crime, an official said on Friday. The two divisions called Counter-Terrorism and Counter-Radicalisation (CTCR) and Cyber and Information Security (CIS) also encompass merger of some of the ministry’s existing divisions. [caption id=“attachment_4031553” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of home minister Rajnath Singh. AFP[/caption] The CTCR wing, which is basically modified version of the Home Ministry’s internal security-II (IS-II) division, will focus on tracking and assessing the online reach of global terrorist outfits like the Islamic State and devising strategies to counter their propaganda while the CIS division will monitor online crimes and threats, including cyber fraud and hacking, and suggest ways to minimise and fight them. “The need for a counter-radicalisation division and policy was felt as Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh was keen that the problem should be solved from the base,” an official said. The CIS division of the ministry is being formed as home minister, concerned at the exponential growth in cyber crimes, had been insisting on a dedicated wing to track and counter online fraud, hacking, identity theft, dark net, trafficking and even cyber attacks on critical infrastructure. As part of the administrative rejig in the ministry, the internal security-I division and internal security-III divisions have been merged, while IS-II division will now exclusively handle counter-terrorism and counter-radicalisation. The ministry’s judicial division and centre-state divisions are also being rolled into one, as are international cooperation and public grievances divisions. The home ministry will continue to have 18 divisions, each headed by a joint-secretary level officer.