Centre calls meet on Red upsurge

In the wake of the recent Sukma attack that led to the death of 25 CRPF jawans, the Union home ministry has convened a meeting with Chief Ministers of 10 states affected by Left Wing Extremism on May 8 in New Delhi.

Both the Telugu states have received communication from the Centre, asking the Chief Ministers, Chief Secretaries, and Director Generals of Police to attend the meeting.

TS Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who left for New Delhi on Saturday on a four-day visit, is likely to attend the meeting along with state officials. However, AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Nadu, who is in the USA, has asked DGP N. Sambasiva Rao, general administration department secretary Nagulapalli Srikant, Vishakhapatnam district collector Pravin Kumar and SP Rahul Dev Sharma to attend the meeting.

Apart from the Chief Ministers, DGPs and top officials, collectors of 35 Naxalaffected districts have been also invited to the meeting to be chaired by Union home minister Rajnath Singh.

AP DGP N. Sambasiva Rao held a review meeting in Visakhapatnam on Saturday where Mr Rahul Dev Sharma said that the Maoist movement has increased along the Andhra-Odisha borders in recent days.

He said Maoists are entering the state from Chhattisgarh and Maoist recruitment and action teams have been put under surveillance.

The SP said that he was moving forward with a strategy to trample the Maoists.

Meanwhile, the Union Home Ministry is expected to revise the strategy to crack down on LWE in coordination with Naxal-affected states.