Fresh govt move on Naxals

PATNA: The state government is in the process of preparing a fresh list of Naxals operating in the 14 Naxal-affected districts. A separate list of hardcore Naxals is also being prepared to counter their onslaught in an effective manner.

The exhaustive exercise has been undertaken to collect all the necessary details like their leaders' area of influence, their affiliation to various Maoist outfits and the preparedness of the police -- right from the grass roots-level to that of the district headquarters.

A daylong marathon meeting on law and order and Naxalism here on Wednesday took stock of the present scenario with a view to tackling the Naxal onslaught in the state.

Chaired by CM Nitish Kumar, the first high-level meeting on law and order stressed the need for launching the much-publicised "Aapki Sarkar-Aapke Dwar" programme in districts to tackle various problems at the grass roots-level. The CM said that the government welfare programmes should be properly highlighted.

Nitish also reviewed the law and order situation in the state and issued necessary directions to the officials concerned to control crime. Besides chief secretary A K Chaudhary, home commissioner Afzal Amanullah, DGP A R Sinha, ADG (special) Abhayanand, IG (headquarters) Anil Sinha and IG (operation) S K Bhardwaj also attended the meeting.
A second round of the meeting on Naxal problem was held under the chairmanship of CS Chaudhary in which IGs were also present. The meeting continued till late evening. It will continue on Thursday as well.

Although the officials remained tightlipped over the deliberations at the meeting, sources said that the various wings of the government, including the CID, intelligence and police stations, would exchange information on a regular basis. The existing operational gaps in sharing information and constraints would be removed, said an official.

Now onwards, police informers will be protected. The state intelligence wing will also be strengthened. The meeting felt that more Central Para Military Force (CPMF) needs to be deployed in the Naxal-affected districts. The Centre has already released two companies of the CPMF as against its demand for 10 companies. The Centre has asked for the location for the remaining eight companies, Amanullah said.

Nitish expressed his unhappiness over the internal bickerings and groupism in the police headquarters. "The government is determined to continue with its ongoing development and welfare programmes. There would be no compromise on this issue. The police have been given complete freedom to act in a befitting manner while protecting human rights," Amanullah said.


TOI