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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is a specialized counter-terrorism law enforcement agency in India. The agency is empowered to deal with the investigation of terror related crimes across states without special permission from the states under written proclamation from the Ministry of Home Affairs. The primary mandate of the National Investigation Agency is to investigate and prosecute offenses that have national and cross-border implications, specifically focusing on terrorism, insurgency, and other related matters. It is empowered to investigate cases that involve threats to the sovereignty, security, and integrity of India. It has the authority to conduct searches, seizures, and arrests, as well as to collect evidence and maintain a database of terrorist organizations and their members.
The Agency came into existence with the enactment of the National Investigation Agency Act 2008 by the Parliament of India on 31 December 2008, which was passed after the deadly 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai. Such an attack revealed the failure of intelligence and ability to track such activities by existing agencies in India, hence the government of India realized the need of a specific body to deal with terror related activities in India, thereby establishing the NIA. Headquartered in New Delhi, the NIA has branches in Hyderabad, Guwahati, Kochi, Lucknow, Mumbai, Kolkata, Raipur, Jammu, Chandigarh, Ranchi, Chennai and Imphal. It maintains the NIA Most Wanted list. Its functioning and effectiveness have also been subject to scrutiny, with debates regarding its jurisdiction, accountability, and coordination with other agencies.
The founding Director-General of NIA was Radha Vinod Raju, and he served until 31 January 2010. Currently Dinkar Gupta serves as its Director-General since 28 June 2022.