The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Chief on Tuesday said the Maoists are “our own people” and the response against them has to be calibrated and “more humane” keeping this in mind.
Dilip Trivedi, the newly-appointed Director General of CRPF, however, ruled out any scaling down of offensive by the security forces against the rebels in Left Wing Extremism hit areas.
The CRPF is the mainstay for the anti-Naxal operations in the country with close to 85,000 personnel deployed for the task in nine affected states.
“The Naxals are our own people. They are not from outside. We are operating within the country and not facing the enemy as a border guarding force. We have to be selective in our action (against Maoists),” Mr. Trivedi said.
The Director General, who took charge about a month ago, recently toured the Naxal hotbeds of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.
“We are not hitting at someone from across the border and we have to be slightly more humane. There is a mental hesitation when you fight your own people but that has not made any scaling down of our preparedness against Maoists,” he said.
Mr. Trivedi said “it will take sometime” to eliminate the Naxal menace but was sure that ultimately the task would be achieved and development would be ushered in the affected areas.
A meeting of Director Generals of Police and Chief Secretaries of the Naxal affected states will be held in the national capital on Wednesday.
Mr. Trivedi, earlier, flagged off a 121-member CRPF contingent for rendering civil police duties in Liberia under the United Nation’s banner.
