The government will review its anti-Naxalite strategy, Home minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday after paying homage to 25 CRPF men killed in a deadly ambush by Maoists in Chhattisgarh.
Mr. Singh arrived in Raipur at around 10.30 a.m. and directly headed to the headquarters of the 4th battalion of Chhattisgarh Armed Force in Mana camp area where the wreath-laying ceremony was held.
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Chhattisgarh Governor Balramji Das Tandon, Chief Minister Raman Singh, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir and senior state and paramilitary officials were also present.
Mr. Singh then held a meeting with the Chief Minister and other senior officials of the state.
"Naxalites are using tribals as fodder," he told reporters after the meeting.
“They are being used as human shields,” he added.
Mr. Singh said that the Maoists were seeking to destabilise development in the State.
At least 25 CRPF personnel were killed and seven wounded in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, the deadliest ambush by Naxalites of security forces this year.
The nearly 100-strong CRPF patrol providing security for road construction work came under fierce gunfire from Maoist guerrillas occupying vantage positions, inflicting heavy casualties on the personnel.
The Naxalites mounted the assault in Kalapathar area of south Bastar region, one of the worst-hit by Left-wing extremism in the country.
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