Patna, July 8: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is mulling over setting up its office in the state in the wake of a spurt in activities of terrorist outfits. The agency had earlier planned to open its field office at Ranchi in Jharkhand.

Sources said the NIA, which is probing last year’s serial bomb blasts in Bodhgaya and Patna, respectively, submitted a proposal in June this year requesting the ministry of home affairs to open a branch office in Patna for proper functioning.

NIA senior official Y.K. Gautam confirmed the agency’s proposal but refused to divulge more information. “It’s true that the agency is planning to open its office in Patna, which would also cover Jharkhand,” Gautam, the NIA inspector-general (administration), said.

The agency has cited reasons for opening a new office in Bihar. “The state shares its border with Nepal from where several leaders of the Indian Mujahideen (IM), a banned terror outfit, have been arrested in the past. In addition, the state is being used as a safe passage for carrying out subversive activities across the country,” said Gautam.

Another NIA official, associated with investigation of the two serial explosions, said once the ministry of home affairs approved the proposal, the agency would start the process.

The NIA had earlier appointed CID deputy inspector-general Kamal Kishore as the agency’s nodal officer in the state. However, Kishore was recently relieved for central deputation. “Since an anti-terrorism squad (ATS) has already been made operational at the police headquarters, the officials of this unit would now co-ordinate with the central agency,” said CID additional director-general A.K. Upadhyay.

Sources in the police headquarters said the ATS inspector-general, Paresh Saxena, has been appointed the nodal officer to co-ordinate with the central agencies in matters related to anti-terrorist activities in the state.

At least half-a-dozen top leaders of the Indian Mujahideen, including co-founder Yasin Bhatkal and his associate Asadullah alias Haddi, have been arrested from India-Nepal border in the past year.

When contacted, ATS in-charge Paresh Saxena said the anti-terrorism unit of the state police would certainly co-operate with the national agencies in the investigation of cases related to subversive activities. “I am not supposed to share information about the country’s security with the media,” he said.