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States should modernise police force to tackle N-E insurgency, says Advani

Home Minister L K Advani says the state governments should take all necessary steps to modernise their police force to firmly fight insurgency in the North-Eastern region, which has become a serious cause of concern for the Centre.

''The state governments cannot shirk their responsibilities,'' Advani said while speaking at a meeting of chief ministers of the North-Eastern states, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

There is a need to enhance and suitably reorient police training to meet the threat from anti-national elements, he said.

"Our experience of fighting insurgency in Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir has shown that insurgency can be tackled firmly only when the state police functions effectively. I would, therefore, urge the chief ministers to undertake urgently the modernisation of the state police forces. The central government will certainly help the states in this regard," he added.

The minister said large, porous borders with Bangladesh and Myanmar had allowed infiltration of illegal migrants into the North-Eastern states and other parts of the country, causing serious social disturbances.

UNI

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