S Asian police forces to boost info sharing

Police chiefs of the eight South Asian nations have settled that police forces in the region will extend internal communication and information sharing activities.
The understanding was reached at the two-day Ninth Saarc Conference on Cooperation in Police Matters in Colombo that concluded yesterday.
Hassan Mahmood Khandker, inspector general of police (IGP) of Bangladesh, led a nine-member delegation to the conference.
Official sources said some member states offered trainings, techniques, and technology of police investigations in the convention.
Concept papers on Saarcpol, Saarc Institute of Criminology, networking among the police authorities, cooperation in provision of required training, techniques, and technology for police investigations were tabled for discussion.
Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksha inaugurated the opening of the conference on Monday.
The meetings of Saarc Focal Points of Terrorist Offences Monitoring Desk (STOMD) and Saarc Drug Offences Monitoring Desk (SDOMD) were also held yesterday for the discussion on the measures to further improve their functioning.
The key agenda of the meeting of SDOMD includes sharing of best practices for drug abuse prevention, drug demand reduction, and drug supply strategies, says a statement of the Saarc Secretariat.
Likewise, the agenda of the meeting of the focal points of STOMD was sharing of information on real time or near real time basis and in a secure manner.
Held at Taj Samudra Hotel in Colombo, the conference reviewed progress of the implementation of decisions or recommendations made at the eighth Saarc Conference that took place in Islamabad on June 24, 2008.
Police chiefs in their speeches stressed the need for more coordination and cooperation among the regional states in counter-terrorism and related transnational crimes.
Establishment of a regional institution called Saarcpol was also among the major issues discussed.
Sri Lanka, as the host nation, offered a training programme on strategic management of counter-terrorism, covering anti-terrorism, strategic planning, and handling strategic intelligence or counter-intelligence at Sri Lankan Police College in Negombo.