DRI Fired!
IT is learnt that there was a big fire in the DRI Headquarters a couple of days ago and their “source Room” has been completely destroyed. DRI is a premier investigating agency with humongous mountains of information with it. DRI is empowered to collect information in all kinds of unorthodox measures and is in possession of quality information assiduously gathered through intelligence networks, telephone tappings and internet interceptions. And does all this simply blow up in smoke one day? While the DRI is adept in cracking the toughest nuts in the white collar Crime syndicates, are they so vulnerable that they watch in helpless frustration as their years of work is simply blown up in some stupid fire? DRI must have conducted several dangerous fire fighting operations, but finds its sepoys running away when their own office is literally and really under fire?
Are our government offices safe? In fact fire has been breaking out with boring regularity in Delhi's Revenue offices, always destroying vital records. One TV Channel has reported that in the DRI fire, vital records including political interceptions and records on Dawood had been destroyed almost suggesting sabotage. A premier investigating agency like DRI may not be storaging all its information only in its Delhi Headquarters or for that matter only in India. So sabotage and Dawood may be too much of the result of fertile imagination and a Dawood will also know that he cannot simply get away by destroying some records in the DRI headquarters – but the fact remains that the office is vulnerable to fire and important records have been lost – it may not be sabotage; it could be short-circuit, but how well are we prepared to meet the challenge of a simple fire that can innocently take place anywhere?
Who is to blame? There is no point in blaming anyone least of all the head of DRI - for there is no full time head of DRI now. The Additional Charge DRI DG also is a very busy Member of the CBEC struggling with sagging Service Tax Revenue, about which the FM is genuinely concerned. But as the DRI is burning, the Board and the FM cannot be fiddling!