Raipur: The government promised on Tuesday to review its strategy on battling Naxalites, as the Chhattisgarh chief minister warned that an operation will be launched “with more firmness” and “vigour” against the guerrillas in the coming days. Shaken by the audacious Naxalite attack on Monday that left 25 CRPF personnel dead in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, the Centre and the state government are making it clear that they will strike back in equal measure. Most telling were the comments by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who rushed to Chhattisgarh capital Raipur in the morning.
“The sacrifice of our brave jawans will not go in vain,” he told a press conference. He said a meeting of all Naxal-hit states will be held on May 8 to look at ways of rooting out Left-Wing extremism. “We will review the strategy (of dealing with Naxalites) and, if necessary, we will revisit it,” he said after paying homage to the CRPF personnel killed in the ambush. Singh said the guerrillas are seeking to destabilise development in the state and using tribals as fodder. “They are being used as human shields,” he said.
“We are working to root out the problem of Left-Wing extremism,” the minister stressed, describing the attack as a cold-blooded murder. The attack targeted a 100-strong CRPF patrol that was providing security for road construction work in the Kalapathar area of south Bastar, a region where Left-Wing extremism is rampant. The fierce gunfire from Maoist guerrillas occupying vantage positions – the deadliest attack on security forces in the state this year — lasted about three hours and left at least 25 CRPF personnel dead and seven wounded. The home minister and the chief minister also visited hospitals where the injured CRPF personnel were being treated.
‘Unhappy’ Rajnath tells CRPF DG, MHA officer to stay put in CG
Home minister directed acting chief of the CRPF Sudeep Lakhtakia and top security officer K Vijay Kumarto stay put in Chhattisgarh to ensure coordinated “targeted” operations against the Naxals, apparently unhappy over the functioning of the paramilitary force. The home minister’s directive came as he was apparently unhappy over the functioning of the CRPF which has faced reverses in the recent past. He has conveyed to the CRPF brass to resolve some “inherent” problems like weaponry, logistics and intelligence gathering mechanism to ensure lethality and better results by avoiding casualties in anti-Naxal operations, sources said. The two officers will stay in Chhattisgarh till a robust anti-Naxal operation is carried out against those involved in the attack. They will will ensure targeted action, based on pin-pointed intelligence, by the security forces against the Naxals, the sources said.
