Thaindian News

New Delhi, Jan 28 (IANS) A meeting of chief ministers of four Maoist-affected states will be held next month in Kolkata to fine-tune joint operations, the home ministry said Thursday.
The meeting, scheduled for Feb 9, will be held soon after the internal security conclave in the capital.

The meeting will be attended by chief ministers of Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal and Bihar to work out a comprehensive strategy for inter-state joint operations in rebel strongholds.

Earlier in the day, Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren met Home Minister P. Chidambaram and said his government would extend all help to central paramilitary forces for its anti-Maoist offensive.

“We welcome the drive launched by the centre and will cooperate with the forces,” said Soren after his meeting with the home minister in North Block.

Soren was accompanied by his two deputy chief ministers Raghuvar Das and Sudesh Mahto.

The home minister said anti-Maoist operations would stop only if the rebels abjured violence and agreed to come to the negotiating table.

When Soren was sworn in chief minister of Jharkhand for the third time in December 2009, he had remarked that the proposed offensive against Maoists, which has been named Operation Green Hunt, would not be launched without the state government’s nod.

Home ministry officials said the meeting was to review operational and deployment details of security forces.

Maoist rebels triggered a landmine in Jharkhand’s Gumla district earlier this month that claimed the lives of seven policemen and a villager. The rebels blew up a truck in which the police personnel were travelling.

Soon after the incident, Chidambaram said he wanted the new government to quickly settle down and give clear directions to the state police and the state administration to resolutely face the Maoist challenge.

Last week, Chidambaram reviewed the progress of anti-Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh capital Raipur and convened a meeting of officials of five states to review operational and deployment details.

The key issues discussed included closing of possible escape routes of the rebels between Orissa and Jharkhand and deployment strategy of joint forces on the borders.