KARACHI: The CounterTerrorism Department (CTD) of Sindh police has proposed policy interventions to make the National Authority for Counter-Terrorism (Nacta) more effective, it emerged on Saturday.

Access to telecommunication and financial transactions data besides establishing an integrated database of terrorists and criminals accessible to the provinces and further restrictions on persons on the fourth schedule were proposed at a conference, which was recently organised by Nacta in Islamabad.

CTD chief additional IG Dr Sanaullah Abbasi represented the Sindh province in the conference that was attended by all the heads of the counterterrorism forces across the country.According to a copy of the presentation given by the Sindh CTD in the conference and obtained by Dawn, the province has been facing a host of issues on account of terrorism and law and order. It mentions attacks on Imambargahs in Karachi where `sleeper cells` of the Indian agency, RAW, have also been detected. Also, a disturbing trend of attacks on Imambargahs has recently emerged in the upper parts of Sindh where mourning processions, Eidgah and shrines have come under attack. Police officials, religious leaders and religious minority communities have been targeted in Karachi and other parts of the province, while railway tracks and train blasts have added a new dimension to the security issues.

According to the CTD, multiple factors are contributing towards the law and order situation. Someof them are intervention by Indian and Afghanistan`s spy agencies, ethnic politics, turf wars, unregulated seminaries, cross-provincial movement, sub-national groups, illegal immigrants, drugs, land grabbing and gang warfare.

To counter terrorism, the policy interventions proposed by Sindh at the conference included police access to customers` data (SIM and Wi-Fi connections) of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.

Besides, financial transaction data of the persons suspected or charged under the terror law and their facilitators and sympathizers be provided to the CTD police to assist them in the investigation.

`Criminal data [CRO] of terrorists should be unified on similar software throughout the country, with a facility to access the data by the provinces,` the CTD suggested.

`There should be effective inter-provincial coordination amongst provincial police forces, the RangersandFrontierConstabulary for action in tribal and B areas.

According to the CTD, persons on fourth schedule working in private/ public organisations should immediately be discharged from service, with a ban on bank loan facility and purchase of asset without prior clearance from FBR. Such persons must not be provided official security and arms licence, it said.

It said the names of persons on fourth schedule be placed on Exit ControlList.Their familyresources should be subjected to audit by the FBR and their family business should be closely monitored. An NOC from the relevant SP be made mandatory for issuance of passports to such persons, it added.

Apart from legal action against violators, provided under the fourth schedule of anti-terrorismact, it was needed that their limitations further be extended to discourage the spread of sectarian hatred and achieve harmony amongst the various sects.

The police counter-terror force also suggested developing a mechanism for effective monitoring of social media, including Facebook and Whatsapp, and the same regulations and laws should be enforced throughout the country for effective monitoring of the seminaries.

Forensic lab data of the provinces should be inter-linked with sharing and access facility, it added.

Speaking to Dawn, Dr Abbasi said the police had done geo-tagging of seminaries across Sindh.

Besides, he said they were in process of `revamping` Special Branch and the CTD.

The CTD chief claimed that the detection rate of terror cases was around80pcin Sindh.