Tackling Naxal menace in a coordinated way

The Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju has said in Parliament that the weapon holding of Left Wing Extremists is not superior to the weaponry used by the security forces in the LWE affected area. The LWE outfits are using weapons/equipments like LMG, AK-47, SLR, .303 rifles, GF rifles, HE grenades and VHF & HF sets for attacks on security forces.

There are reports that the CPI (Maoist) is focusing on further augmentation of its military capability to increase the lethality of its armory. The use of rockets, mortars and Molotov cocktails through indigenously manufactured launchers have also been witnessed during some attacks on security forces in the Bastar region.

He said that the banned CPI(Maoist) party has its own weapons manufacturing unit called the Technical Research and Arms Manufacturing (TRAM) unit. The TRAM caters to the weapons/ ammunition requirement of the CPI (Maoist). The LWE have an intelligence network, mainly among villagers in their strongholds.

The Central Government has a four pronged strategy to tackle LWE insurgency – security related measures; development related measures; ensuring rights and entitlements of local communities and public perception management, wherein it supplements the efforts of the State Governments over a wide range of schemes and measures. Several steps have been taken to strengthen and upgrade the capabilities of intelligence agencies at the central and state level. This includes intelligence sharing through multiagency centre (MAC) at the central level and state MAC (SMAC) at the state level on 24x7 basis. Training in intelligence is an integral part of regular training imparted to security personnel belonging to Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs). The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Border Security Force (BSF) have set up their own schools to provide training on intelligence to its troops.

The LWE affected states have been advised from time to time to strengthen their intelligence wings/State Intelligence Bureaus (SIBs). Steps have been taken to improve the intelligence network – technical intelligence and human intelligence through continuous technical upgradation and regular training of personnel on surveillance & intelligence collection techniques and analysis of technical intelligence, with the funds provided under the modernisation of police force (MPF) scheme.