Rajnath Singh to hold meeting over Maoist menace, CRPF headquarter shifted to Raipur

After the deadly Sukma attack that killed 25 CRPF personnel, finally the govt has woke up and Home Minister Rajnath Singh along with chief ministers of 10 Maoist-hit states will discuss Monday over ways to tackle the menace.

Ahead of the crucial meeting, the strategic command headquarters of CRPF’s anti-Naxal 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 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 slain.

Also Read: Chhattisgarh Police arrests 9 Naxalites involved in deadly ‘Sukma attack’ on CRPF

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

District magistrates and superintendents of police of 35 worst-hit districts, besides heads of paramilitary forces and intelligence agencies, will attend the meeting.

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.