Reddy claims success in dealing with Naxal menace in AP

 Andhra Pradesh has successfully dealt with the menace of Naxalism over the years ''drastically reducing'' the number of armed insurgents operating underground to 150, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy today said.

"The measure of our success is seen in terms of number of armed underground cadre drastically reducing from 1100 in 2004 to about 150 in 2012 in the state.

Simultaneously, the Naxal violence has drastically come down over the years," Reddy told a conference of chief ministers on internal security here.

He said the two pronged strategy of law enforcement and socio-economic development have helped the government to address the problem of Left Wing Extremism "to a large extent".

"During the last one year, we have achieved significant results in terms of arrest of several top functionaries of CPI Maoists in addition to striking at the company formations on the Andhra-Orissa borders," Reddy said.

He said currently, the Maoist problem is restricted to the eight districts of the state situated on inter-state borders with Orissa, Chattisgarh and Maharashtra and sought assistance from the Centre to facilitate rapid movement of security forces on the inter-state borders.

"...We have submitted a proposal to the Government of India for developing a corridor of road network all along the inter-state border districts starting from Srikakulam to Adilabad with an estimated cost of about Rs 2400 crores," Reddy said and requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to approve the proposal.

He also elaborated on the counter terrorism measures being adopted by the state government to guard its 1000 kms long coast line.

"Terrorism is under effective check in Andhra Pradesh. The state witnessed the last major terrorist attack in August, 2007," Reddy said.