Collecting menil’s DNA from his DNA samples will help India counter terrorism, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said.

The government has also asked the Supreme Court to set up a centre to collect menil samples and to help analyse their DNA to help identify suspects.

Singh made the announcement in a tweet on Monday.

“Collecting Menili’s DNA will help us fight terrorism.

The court is ready to set it up.

I ask the government to set this centre up in consultation with the states and tribal leaders,” Singh said in the tweet.

Menil, a tribal elder who heads a tribal band in the northeastern state of Chhattisgarh, is considered to be one of the most important figures in the tribal insurgency that has claimed more than 1,400 lives in India since 1984.