Today’s youngsters are attracted to suspense thrillers and dream to become an IPS officer,public prosecutor and others to unravel the truth. These days, we see the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) handling many high flying cases like the 2G scam, Arushi Talwar murder, Bhopal gas tragedy or the Bofors probe.Everywhere there are security agencies, be it Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s external intelligence agency and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) trying to get at the truth. Apart from these, there are also the private detectives under the non-government organization.

Everyday there are reports appearing in the newspapers that an official has been caught redhanded while accepting bribe or passing country’s military secrets to outsiders. Intelligence agencies come in here and decipherthe ailment and punish the guilty.

Central Bureau of Investigation Established on April 1, 1963, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is a government agency that serves as a criminal investigation body,national security agency and intelligence agency. To make matters easy, it was decided in 1987 to constitute two investigation divisions in the CBI, namely, Anti-Corruption Division and Special Crimes Division, the latter dealing with cases of conventional crime, besides economic offences.

CBI is held in high esteem by the Supreme Court,the High Courts, the Parliament and the public.It probes major crimes in the country having inter-state and international implications. One of the famous cases handled by the CBI in recent times includes the Nithari killings, where the accused Moninder Singh Pandher was found guilty after the probe by CBI. The murders of dozens of children in the Nithari village near Noida, UP, had rocked the media. Of late in the Arushi Talwar murder case, CBI has pointed its fingers on the Talwars.

CBI Functioning The CBI is headed by a Director, an IPS Officer of the rank of Director General of Police or Commissioner of Police (State). The Director is selected based on the procedure laid down by CVC Act 2003 and has a tenure of two years.

Other major ranks are Special Director,Additional Director, Joint Director, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Senior Superintendent of Police, Superintendent of Police, Additional Superintendent of Police,Deputy Superintendent of Police, Inspector, Sub-Inspector, Assistant Sub-Inspector, Head Constable, Senior Constable and Constable.Direct recruitment to CBI takes place for the post of Sub-Inspector, Assistant Public Prosecutor and Senior Public Prosecutor (SPP) levels, including group ‘D’ vacancies. The Assistant PPs, Senior PPs and SPP’s are appointed through competitive examinations conducted by the Staff Selection Commission located in different states. Vacancies and qualifications required for these are published in newspapers periodically.

For the post of a Sub-Inspector, the recruit should be a graduate between 18-25 years of age. He should be 5’6" tall and chest 32' (+2"). He will have to appear for a written test in English and GK that would be followed by a medical and personal interview. Directly recruited candidates undergo training at the Police Academy in Ghaziabad (UP), while the IPS officers train at Hyderabad. CBI personnel are also trained at Lok Nayak Bhawan, New Delhi. Research and Analysis Wing The country’s external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) was established in September 1968 after erring by the Intelligence Bureau in the 1962 Sino-Indo war and 1965 India-Pakistan war. The then Union government felt the need of a specialized, independent agency required for competent external intelligence gathering. The primary function of RAW is collection of external intelligence, counter-terrorism and covert operations apart from obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and persons and also to brief the country’s policymakers. Recruitment in RAW is done via the National Aptitude Test in Intelligence followed by personality and psychological test and interviews.

A new recruit begins his training at RAW’s Training Institute in Gurgaon with an advice from the seniors spread over a period of ten days. During this time, he experiences the real world of intelligence and espionage. He is also indoctrinated into the common lingo apart from being explained about other international spy agencies.After successfully finishing the training, the recruit is attached to a Field Intelligence Bureau (FIB) for a period of one to two years to gain firsthand experience of operations. The recruit is taught infiltration and exfiltration and instructed to avoid capture and, if caught, rules of facing interrogation. Before deployment in the field, the recruit is given comprehensive training in the art of self-defence and use of technical espionage devices.

Among the most successful operations conducted by RAW include Operation Smiling Buddha and amalgamation of Sikkim. The country’s nuclear programme was given the code word of Operation Smiling Buddha. It was the first time that RAW was involved inside the country and on May 18, 1974, India detonated a 15-kiloton plutonium device at Pokhran to join the elite nuclear club. In 1972, the country authorized RAW to install a government favourable to the country in Sikkim thus joining the country as a 22nd state on April 26, 1975. Apart from receiving bouquets, RAW has received brickbats too. In 1999, it was condemned for failing to notice the Pakistani incursions at Kargil. Defence experts criticized RAW for not providing proper intelligence that could have prevented the ensuing ten-week conflict that brought neighbours India and Pakistan on the verge of war.

National Investigation Agency In a bid to combat terror after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the Central government set up the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The agency is empowered to deal with terror related crimes across states without special permission from the states. It is currently headed by S.C Sinha.

The NIA empowers the Centre to probe terror attacks in any part of the country, covering offences, including challenge to the country’s sovereignty and integrity, bomb blasts, hijacking of aircraft and ships, and attacks on nuclear installations.Personnel for NIA can be drawn from the existing central staff and security organizations and state police personnel can be copted on permanent deputation. The agency also looks into crimes of counterfeit currency, human trafficking, narcotics or drugs and organised crime.

Intelligence Bureau
Intelligence Bureau (IB) is used to garner intelligence from within the country and also execute counter-intelligence and counterterrorism tasks. The IB comprises of employees from law enforcement agencies, mostly from the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the military.Not many are aware of the workings in the IB. But experts say that IB clears licenses of amateur radio enthusiasts, passes information between other intelligence agencies and the police. It also clears the appointments of diplomats and judges before they assume office. It is also expected to tap mails and phones without any permission.

Some of the success achieved by IB is exposing some terror modules in 2008 and also passing alerts on Hyderabad blasts and warnings of possible attack on Mumbai in 2008 through the sea. Major intelligence gathering is done by ‘Grade II’ employees of the IB, hierarchy wise; the Security Assistants (Constable), Junior Intelligence Officers (Head Constable), Asst. (Central) Intelligence Officer (Sub-Inspector),Deputy Central Intelligence Officers (Inspector), and Joint Central Intelligence Officers (Superintendent of Police). The ‘Class I’(gazette) officers carry out coordination and higher-level management. These officers are Asst. Director, Deputy Director, Joint Director, Addl. Director, Special Director or Special Secretary and finally the Director IB. Grade II officers are in part direct recruitment and officer deputed from state police forces, but Class I officers are mostly deputed from state services.

Directorate of Revenue Intelligence
Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI)functions under the Central Excise & Customs,in the Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue. Headed by Director General in New Delhi, DRI is presently divided into seven zones, each under the charge of an Additional Director General, and further sub-divided into RegionalUnits, Sub-Regional Units and Intelligence Cells with a complement of Additional Directors,
Joint Directors, Deputy Directors, Assistant Directors, Senior Intelligence Officers and Intelligence Officers.

Other Agencies
National Technical Reconnaissance Organization is the country’s prime civilian technology intelligence agency working in close association with the Aviation Research Centre. Established on March 5, 2002, Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) reports to the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and its operations are classified.The Joint Cipher Bureau works closely with the IB and RAW for cryptanalysis and encryption of sensitive data. It is also responsible for issues relating to public and private key management. If you have the desire in you to serve the country and protect it from internal and external aggression, join any intelligence wing, but before that build yourself in will of steel for the hard rigours that the job demands. Also be prepared to live in a suitcase as today you are here and tomorrow may be somewhere else.