Rajnath to meet CMs of Maoist violence-hit states today

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and chief ministers of 10 Maoist violence-hit states will brainstorm on Monday over ways to tackle the menance, a fortnight after 25 CRPF men were massacred by underground guerrillas in Chhattisgarh's Sukma.

Ahead of the crucial meeting, the strategic command headquarters of CRPF's antiNaxal operations was shifted from Kolkata to Chhattisgarh.

The conclave would discuss ways to revamp intelligence gathering mechanism, take a close look at ongoing operations against Naxalites, identify problem areas and devise ways to minimise casualties among the security forces, a home ministry official said on Sunday.

Altogether 37 CRPF personnel have been killed by Naxalites in the worst-hit Chhattisgarh in less than two months.

The April 24 assault on a CRPF road opening party that claimed lives of 25 personnel was the deadliest since the April 2010 attack in Dantewada, also in Chhattisgarh, in which 76 personnel were killed.

Chief ministers of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have been invited to meeting which would be chaired by Singh.

On top of the agenda will be the issue of re-calibrating the anti-Naxal strategy to make it more effective, and to minimise casualties, the official said. The home minister has asked security officials to look for out-of-the box solutions to the problem.