The Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected States should take the ‘ownership’ in leading operations against Maoists and the central armed police forces (CAPFs) would actively coordinate with them, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday.
At a day-long meeting in Delhi with Chief Ministers and representatives of 10 LWE affected States to chalk out a strategy to tackle the menace, Mr. Singh asked the CAPF personnel to learn and respect the customs and traditions of tribal people, wherever they are posted. As of now, 118 battalions of CAPFs, a little over a lakh, are posted in the LWE affected States.
The meeting, though a planned one, comes in the backdrop of the April 24 attack on CRPF personnel in Sukma where 25 jawans were killed in an ambush by Maoists.
Except West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Ministers of all the other LWE affected States were present in the meeting.
Mr. Singh said, "The whole country is agitated over the martyrdom of 25 CRPF personnel in Sukma. India is largest democracy in the world. LWE groups are trying to weaken democracy in the country." Actionable intelligence was required to tide over the Maoist related violence.
“Unified Coordination and Command is needed on the LWE front. Along with strategic command, unified command is also required at the operations level. LWE cadres are constantly trying to inflict losses on security forces to boost the morale of their cadres. Today, we need to consider whether to react only after the occurrence of any incident or we should be more proactive," he said.
Mr. Singh emphasised that there was need to improve the training facilities at the camps. "The residential camps of security forces should be well equipped with power and water facility and better connectivity. We need to ensure that security forces must adhere to the Standard Operating Procedures," he said.
The Minister pointed out that there was need to depute shadow intelligence officers to track prominent targets associated with LWE and stressed on use of technologies pertaining to space, IT and communication to be used on a greater scale to counter the LWE problem.
"We need to use UAVs, PTZ cameras, GPS tracking, thermal imaging, radar and satellite images. There is need to chalk out a specific action plan for each theatre with short term, medium term & long term strategies clearly defined," he said.
Mr. Singh also underlined need for choking the financial resources of the LWE cadres and groups.
