THIS is with reference to the article `A national CTD?` (Feb 20) and the recent attack on Karachi Police Office (KPO) claimed by the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). This fresh wave of terrorism has become a nuisance for the state and people, posing new challenges in these critical times when we are already facing several other national issues.

It is undoubtedly correct that without having legal, constitutional and procedural reforms, it is difficult for lawenforcers and investigating agencies to control terrorism and put the culprits behind the bars.

We need to create a fully coordinated security cell at the national level where all civil and military law-enforcement agencies should operate under a consistent, intelligence-based mechanism to drive out terrorism. We are not able to establish a national counter-terrorism department (CTD) owing to the country`s precarious economic situation.

Someone has rightly said that modernity is an `unending process`. We need to transform our ideas into practice by adopting measures to control and eliminate terrorism. For this, we should develop forensiccum-cyberse curity centres at the provincial level to examine and boost scientific and technological approaches in crime control efforts. Using big data sets and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms is the way forward to monitor nefarious activities and precautionary countermeasures against terrorism and extremism.

We also need to facilitate lawenforcement agencies, providing them the latest gadgets that will definitely help us destroy the strategy of the terrorists.

The law-enforcement agencies need to run surveillance on a suspect via geotag devices, closed circuit cameras, mobile monitoring, geo-fencing, call detail records, and internet protocol (IP)address toneutralise terrorist cells as well as to completely block dark web, cryptography, virtual private networks (VPNs) and active server pages.

There should be strong regulations and laws to limit mobile marketing softwares that facilitate unlocking stolen mobile devices and changing International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) codes in devices to track the targeted suspects. Besides, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) must block unregistered SIM cardsinthenorthern areas.

We should increase the safety and security of vehicles through the installation of global positioning system (GPS) tracking in vehicles and automate the online government system of buyingselling certificates of vehicles for confirming vehicle ownership.

This process will save the innocent from being accused of a crime not committed by them. The psychological assessment of clergy should be ensured to identify strange behaviour and scrutinise the responses by gathering real-time data.

Last but not least, border vigilance teams with digital equipment should be deputed at allcheckpostsright across the country`s borders so that cross-border movement may be recorded and travel history of individuals confirmed through face and eye recognition software. Such measures will help the nation eliminate terrorism.

ASI Aamir Ali Karachi