Thaindian News

Raipur/New Delhi, Jan 21 (IANS) Home Minister P. Chidambaram will Friday hold a crucial meeting of three Maoist affected states in Raipur to assess the operational and deployment details of security forces ahead of a major offensive in Maoist strongholds.
The meeting will be attended by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, the chief secretary and director general of police of Jharkhand, representatives from Orissa and the chiefs of the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

“This is going to be a very crucial meet. We intend now to come down harder on Maoists after their bases are increasingly being dominated by police and paramilitary forces, mainly in their headquarters in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region where they are on the run,” a senior Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) official told IANS.

“The meet will also take stock of the anti-Maoist drive and devise fresh strategies to flush out the rebels and see they do not get safe passage to neighbouring state.”

In recent months, rebels in Chhattisgarh have managed to infiltrate neighbouring states to escape the heat and then return to their bases once operations in a particular area ceased.

Officials also pointed out that rapid all-round development of areas being cleared of Maoists in recent months would also come up for discussion.

“The meeting assumes added significance because the newly elected Jharkhand government has halted operations against Maoists. Long range patrols and raids directed at the extremists have been put on hold,” said a home ministry official. “This might give the rebels time to regroup and plan a counter-offensive.”

Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren has reportedly decided to go slow on anti-Maoist operations after taking charge and this has led to some anxiety in North Block.

Over 20 CRPF companies are yet to be deployed in some of the badly-affected districts of the state including Ranchi, Palamau, Lohardaga and Gumla, it is learnt.

In a loud and clear signal to the new government in Jharkhand, the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) committed their first major act by triggering a landmine blast in which seven security personnel and one civilian were killed.

Chidambaram has already stressed to Soren the need for sending clear instructions to the state police and the administration to resolutely face the Maoist challenge, officials said.