Must strengthen ground-level intelligence, says Rajnath

Failure of intelligence network in fighting Maoists has now attracted the attention of the security establishment, with the home ministry deciding to strengthen the ground-level intelligence set-up.

The decision was taken on Wednesday at a high-level meeting chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, two days after a deadly attack on a CRPF team in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district in which 25 personnel were killed.

The meeting was attended by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and other senior officers.

Sources said Singh and others were unanimous on the need for revamping the intelligence-gathering mechanism. They wanted a thorough analysis of the ongoing operations and stressed on identifying areas where forces are lacking.

With Singh already announcing a review of the anti-Maoist strategy, the meeting also discussed the recalibration of the strategy.

Singh has called a meeting of chief ministers and top police officers of Maoist-affected states on May 8.
The home minister and senior officers deliberated on the reasons for the attack in Sukma on Monday. They were briefed about how Maoists used locals to gather inputs about troop movement to target security personnel. The Maoists also managed to take shelter in tribals’ houses without security personnel getting information about it.

Sources said the meeting was also briefed about the lack of ground-level intelligence for security personnel. There was special emphasis on the need for strengthening the intelligence network.