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Forces seek more teeth

Last Updated 19 May 2010, 17:13 IST

“More than the additional forces, arms and ammunition and conference-strategies, we urgently need to replace the out-dated anti-mine wire techniques which could neutralise the foremost armour in the hands of the invisible enemy in the red zones,” a senior official here told Deccan Herald.

He said this should be high on the list of the government as it is “even more important than seeking the air cover”.

Since April 6, for the second time, the Naxals have used mines with telling effect. In fact, the superintendent of police in charge of Naxal operations had a providential escape on Monday as his car had just passed the site minutes before the mine was activated. 

New technology
According to the official, the Union Home Ministry will be convinced of the need to have the new technology used by several developed countries for combating terrorism, including Israel.

Chief Minister Raman Singh is expected to place this demand with the Centre while unfolding his “new no-holds-barred offensive plan which may also include logistical help from the army.” Asked about the rejection of truce offer by the Union home minister by the Maoists, sources guessed that the Naxals “may keep psychological pressure on the forces to stop them from their domination exercises in the so-called liberated zones.” He did not rule out “more surprises.” 

The Maoists strategically first targeted CRPF 62 Battalion on April 6, killing 76 of CRPF Jawans. And on Monday, they killed 12 special police officers, the local “Koya commandos”, drawn from the tribal population. “Koyas” constitute local tribals; some of them former-Maoists who are familiar with the terrain, topography and battle tactics of the Naxals.

The fear of road mines is palpable here, particularly on the Naxal-affected road—a stretch of 400 km from Raipur to the Southern most tip of the state, including Bastar, Jagdalpur and Dantewada. On the second-day of the five-state (Chattisgarh, West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and Jharkhand) bundh call given by the Maoists, state and private buses were plying almost empty. “The blasting of the private bus by the Naxals on Monday has visibly scared the civil passengers,” said Satish Tiwari, leader of the bus association in Raipur.
Bus and train services have been suspended from Rajnandgaon, close to Raipur, to the tribal region of Bastar in the South which is the hub of the Maoist activities in Chattisgarh.
DH News Service

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(Published 19 May 2010, 17:13 IST)

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