After the terrorist threats in Uttar Pradesh in the past, along with the arrest of two terrorists of the Al-Qaeda backed organisation in Lucknow, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to expand the scope of Anti-Terrorists Squad (ATS).

The government has made preparations to open a new ATS commando centre in western UP at Deoband. The government has allotted 20,000 square metres of land near Deoband in Saharanpur for Uttar Pradesh ATS Commando Centre.

Advisor to the CM, Shalabh Mani Tripathi in a tweet on Tuesday said ,"After the news of barbaric and return of Taliban in Afghanistan, Yogiji has decided to open ATS Commando Centre in Deoband with immediate effect. Work on war footing has also started. About one-and-a-half dozen smart ATS officers selected from across the state will be posted in the centre. Preparations are underway to open ATS Commando Training Centre in Lucknow and Noida before Deoband too."

Saharanpur is only 30 km away from Deoband. More than eight terrorists and ISI agents have been arrested in Saharanpur recently. There are more than 300 madrasas in Deoband.  Due to Darul Uloom, students from all over the country and the world come to Deoband for education. Deoband, which is called the city of knowledge, is now on the radar of the government due to terrorist activities. Because of this, the UP government has decided to set up an ATS commando centre in Deoband. Selected commandos of Uttar Pradesh Police will be given training in Deoband. To do this work, about one-and-a-half dozen officers of the state will also be posted there.

A confidential proposal was invited from the Saharanpur district administration on this. The district administration had sent a proposal to set up an ATS commando centre at the Industry Training Center in Deoband. The government has approved it.

Meanwhile, several reactions have been made to the UP government's decision in this regard. Former UP Shia Central Waqf Board chief Waseem Rizvi lauded the move of the Yogi government, saying that Deoband had been found complicit in abetting terror in the past. "This will put a curb on such activities," Rizvi said.

Sunni cleric Maulana Sufyan Nizami said that no one had a problem with the UP government opening an ATS centre in Deoband. However, he added that the government agencies must desist from framing innocent Muslims in terror cases.

Congress spokesperson Surendra Rajput slammed the Yogi Adityanath government over the decision and accused it of attempting to distract the people's attention from real issues like lack of development, unemployment and non-payment of sugarcane dues in western Uttar Pradesh.

Samajwadi Party's Vivek Silas described the move as communal and divisive, while pointing out that several past instances of terror-related arrests where investigations had still not reached a conclusion under the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state.