Plan to spend Rs. 7,300 crore in Naxal-hit States

The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that it has envisaged a Rs. 7,300 crore package for the development of Naxal-affected States in the country.

Appearing before a bench of Justices B. Sudershan Reddy and S.S. Nijjar, Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati submitted that the Union Cabinet has accorded approval for the package but said the government was only sceptical about its implementation because of the Naxals interference in such schemes.

He, however, said the government would soon place details of the package before the apex court in the form of an affidavit.

The Attorney General made the submissions during hearing of the petition on killing of over 10 tribals of Gompad village in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district allegedly by security personnel for reportedly acting as Naxal sympathisers.

After filing the petition before the apex court seeking a CBI inquiry into the alleged killings, all 12 tribals had gone missing.

However, the Chhattisgarh government produced six of the 12 missing tribals before the apex court on February 15 after the Court’s direction.

The petition filed by human rights activist, Himanshu Kumar, alleged that the kin of the victims, who filed the earlier petition in the apex court, were allegedly abducted by the Chhattisgarh Police.

Mr. Kumar in his petition has alleged that a 28-year-old key witness of the killing, Sodi Sambo, who was undergoing treatment for a bullet wound, was last seen here at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.