“We have decided to reply by bullets during any operation against the Naxals, as they are against development,” said the chairperson of the Task Force and special secretary (Internal Security) of the Union Home Ministry, Mahendra Kumavat, here today. During the meeting of the task force that was held here for the first time, the members called for a better coordination and sharing of intelligence inputs between the Naxal-affected states to counter its growing menace.
Kumavat rejected the notion that lack of development is fuelling the Naxal’s strength and added, “the Naxals were against development as they have burnt thousands of buses in Andhra Pradesh and also bombed telephone exchanges, schools buildings and culverts in that state.” He further stated that the Centre has already sanctioned over Rs 1,000 crore for the development of the Naxal-affected areas of the country and there is no dearth of funds for it.
‘The government can no longer tolerate such activities. Now they will be dealt accordingly,” he said. Justifying the strict measures against the group, Kumavat said, “When Naxals are armed with sophisticated firearms, they can only be controlled through force.”
Over 43 senior officials, including three officials from the Indian Army, CRPF, SSB, top police officials from the Naxal-affected states and ADG (Intelligence) of Maharashtra, West Bengal, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, attended the meeting. At the daylong meeting, officials discussed the recent Nayagarh police station attack in Orissa and the subsequent combing operations where over 1,000 arms were snatched from the fleeing Naxals.
“The Naxals have a very good co-ordination among themselves as ultras from other states were present during the Nayagarh police station attack,” Kumavat told reporters. He also admitted that interaction and co-operation between the Naxals and terrorist outfits like the ULFA of Assam and NSCN of Nagaland and Pakistan’s intelligence wing ISI are growing.
Only effective coordination among the Naxal-affected states can counter the Maoists strong hold, he added.
He, however, rejected the assumption that Indian Naxals were getting arms and ammunition from the Maoist groups in Nepal. The Indian Maoists are better equipped than that of Nepal and there is no need of such cooperation, he added.
He said frontal organisations floated by the CPI (Maoist) were creating hurdle in the operation against the Naxals in several states as these organisations were active among different sections of society like the trade unions and youth and also in some schools in Jharkhand.
The meeting also discussed the strategies adopted by different states and appreciated the effective operations conducted by the Grey Hounds, the special force floated by the Andhra Pradesh government to counter Naxals.
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