Shah launches IED data system

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday launched a national digital Improvised Explosive Device (IED) data management platform that will act as “next generation security shield against terror” and a comprehensive deterrence against all forms of bombings that take place in the country.

The national IED data management system (NIDMS) has been developed by the federal counter-terrorist commando force NSG with the help of Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) in Gandhinagar, IIT-Delhi, National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Indian cyber-crime coordination centre (I4C).

It is armed with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning tools for “accurately” studying all types of bombings.

Improvised explosive device (IED) blasts in the country have been categorised as one of the "most challenging" threats in the internal security domain, killing thousands of civilians and security personnel, and critically injuring many others over the years.

Shah inaugurated the facility through a video conferencing link that connected the platform, housed at the National Security Guard (NSG) garrison in Manesar here. The minister said the NIDMS will act as a ‘shield’ and ‘national asset’ against terrorist incidents, as it will provide a ‘comprehensive’ data to the police, various investigative agencies, state Anti-Terrorist Squads, federal agencies like the NIA and central forces to analyse the patterns and modus operandi of various types of bombings.

In his address, Shah said, this platform will act as a ‘one nation-one data repository’ for IED blasts, help to speed up prosecution by adding quality to the forensic evidence gathered and enhance inter-agency coordination.

NSG Director General (DG) Brighu Srinivasan said the NIDMS is a ‘real-time’ exchange of information platform, for government agencies in the anti-terrorism and counter-insurgency domain, that will collect, analyse and disseminate data on all bombing incidents of the country. The platform is ‘unique’ as during its preparatory stage, 26 “friendly” countries were approached and they did not have such a facility, he said.

According to the NSG, the database has 800 users (various agencies) and will also be able to capture ‘signature linkages’ among different bomb blast incidents, conduct post-blast investigation and can also perform “predictive” analysis to thwart certain bombing incidents. The ambitious project has been in the works for some time and is part of the NSG’s National Bomb Data Centre (NBDC), which analyses all types of bombings that occur in the country, apart from major explosions that take place globally.

The NBDC, established in the year 2000, has a database of all bombings that took place in the country since 1999. Raised in 1984, the NSG’s ‘Black Cat’ commandos are tasked to undertake specific counter-terrorist and counter-hijack operations besides protecting select high-risk VIPs.