Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief Ministers of 10 Maoist violence-hit States will brainstorm on Monday over ways to tackle the situation, a fortnight after 25 CRPF men were massacred by underground guerrillas in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma.
Ahead of the crucial meeting, the strategic command headquarters of CRPF’s anti-Naxal operations was shifted from Kolkata to Chhattisgarh.
The conclave would discuss ways to revamp intelligence gathering mechanism, take a close look at ongoing operations against Naxalites, identify problem areas and devise ways to minimise casualties among the security forces, a Home Ministry official said. Altogether 37 CRPF personnel have been killed by Naxalites in worst-hit Chhattisgarh in less than two months.
The April 24 assault on a CRPF road opening party that claimed lives of 25 personnel was the deadliest since the April 2010 attack in Dantewada, also in Chhattisgarh, in which 76 personnel were slain.
Chief ministers of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have been invited to the meeting which would be chaired by Mr. Singh.
District magistrates and superintendents of police of 35 worst-hit districts, besides heads of paramilitary forces and intelligence agencies will attend the meeting.
On top of the agenda will be the issue of re-calibrating the anti-Naxal strategy to make it more effective, and to minimise casualties, says the official.
Development plank
Road construction and other development activities in the affected areas will also be discussed. Ways to cut down on time spent on laying roads are also likely to be discussed. Road opening parties of Central paramilitary forces have repeatedly come under assault by Naxalites in the past.
The Home Minister has asked security officials to look for out-of-the box solutions to the problem of successive attacks by Naxalites on security personnel providing protection for road repair or development work in the troubled areas.
Home Ministry sources said currently 90% of the Maoist activity is limited to 35 districts, though the ultra-Left guerrillas have pockets of influence in 68 districts in 10 States.
Meanwhile, in a move to shore up its capabilities to tackle Maoist violence, the CRPF has ordered “immediate” shifting of the command headquarters of central zone of the force from Kolkata to Raipur. It comes roughly seven years after it was shifted to Kolkata due to logistical and connectivity issues.
