Naxal ambush: New strategy and operation on the anvil

A comprehensive re-look at the strategy would be undertaken during a scheduled meeting on May 8 when Chief Ministers and senior police officials from naxal-hit states meet here.
 
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who described the killing as "cold-blooded murder and cowardice", acknowledged the need for a review of the strategy when he went to Raipur in Chhattisgarh to pay homage to the CRPF personnel killed in the attack on Monday.
 
"We will review the strategy and if necessary we will revisit it. We are working to root out the problem of Left Wing extremism...We have accepted it as a challenge," Singh told reporters in Raipur. Singh said naxals were using tribals as "human shields".
 
His remarks come a month after he called for "introspection" into what led to the killing of CRPF personnel on March 11 in Sukma. In a statement in Lok Sabha on March 24, he said naxals have suffered "unprecedented losses" in 2016 and that they will continue to attempt such incidents to restore the "flagging morale" of their cadres.
 
"However, there is a need for introspection on this incident. I have directed the Director General, CRPF to conduct a detailed enquiry into the incident so that the lapses that led to the incident can be identified which will reduce the possibility of repetition of such incidents in the future," Singh had then said.
 
Officials also point to the vacancy at the top in CRPF, saying this affects the functioning of the force. Though there is an acting Director General, they said, the government should appoint a full-time chief.
 
Sources said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had forwarded names of possible candidates for the post of CRPF DG to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) twice but no decision was taken. The MHA might not have been able to convince the PMO about its choice, they said.