‘Will review strategy to deal with Maoists’
Home minister calls it a coldblooded murder
NEW DELHI: Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday termed the deadly Maoist attack on CRPF personnel in Chattisgarh “cold blooded murder”, saying the government has accepted the challenge and it will take strong action.
At least 25 soldiers died a day ago after a nearly 100-strong patrol party was ambushed in Sukma, considered among India’s worst insurgency-hit regions.
Singh, who visited Raipur to take stock of the situation, said the government will review its strategy to combat Maoist militancy and deploy more senior officers in the region.
“It is an act of desperation. We have accepted it as a challenge. We will review the strategy and if necessary we will revisit it,” his ministry tweeted.
Speaking to reporters in Raipur, the minister called the midday ambush of CRPF personnel a “desperate attempt” to block development and said the government had taken the strike as a challenge. “The naxals (Maoists) won’t succeed… we will revise and renew our strategy at a meeting on May 8,” he said. “The Centre and state governments will together work and take action.”
He paid homage to deceased CRPF personnel at a wreath-laying ceremony at the headquarters of the 4th battalion of the Chhattisgarh Armed Force in the Mana camp area.
Chhattisgarh governor Balramji Das Tandon, chief minister Raman Singh, Union minister of state for home affairs Hansraj Ahir and senior state and paramilitary officials were also present at the ceremony.
The home minister said Maoists were the “biggest enemies” of tribal and poor people in the area and were against any development. “But they will not succeed in their evil designs,” he said.
Chhattisgarh CM Singh too called the attack “condemnable” and said development work as well as anti-Maoist operations will continue unabated.
NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh stirred a controversy on Tuesday by suggesting that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had a deal with Maoist rebels, a day after insurgents gunned down 25 soldiers in the Sukma region.
Speaking to reporters, Singh said he stood by earlier statement that said chief minister Raman Singh and the BJP won elections from the red corridor because there was “some understanding” between them. He also said the government’s recall of ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes last year had no impact on Maoist violence.
“Unless we take tribals into confidence, naxalism cannot be contained.”
His comments came after Union home minister Rajnath Singh described the militant ambush on Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel as a “challenge” and said the Centre would review its counter-insurgency tactics.