'I was laughing and crying at the same time. Right now, just extremely happy that she will be out and amongst us soon.'
Chairing a meeting to review the security situation in LWE-affected states, Shah said the Modi government has adopted a policy of zero tolerance against left wing extremism since 2014.
1 jawan was injured in a gunbattle with Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district.
The security forces did not suffer any casualty in the encounter.
Date, a 1990 Indian Police Service officer of the Maharashtra cadre who once sold newspapers in Pune to financially support his family, was honoured with the President's Police medal for gallantry for his role in what has come to be known as the 26/11 attack.
Deva recently replaced Hidma as commander of the Maoists' battalion no. 1, the IG added.
Security forces say Naxals have amassed nearly Rs 1,500 crore through extortion, kidnapping, looting and the narcotics trade.
The encounter broke out early on Saturday between a BSF patrol and armed Naxal cadres near the Chhotebethiya-Pakhanjore jungle axis of the Maoist violence-hit district, officials said.
The Naxals fled from the spot after a prolonged gunfight.
'There is need to invent another enemy.' 'If you can add Maoists to Muslims, the tukde-tukde thread will tie in nicely.' 'You might even have a 'nation in grave danger' story by the summer of 2019,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
The majority of CoBRA teams, whose commandos are expected to have tough mental and physical attributes, are deployed in various Maoist violence affected states while a few are based in the northeastern states for undertaking counter-insurgency operations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday mooted the idea of "One Nation, One Uniform" for the police, saying it is just a suggestion for consideration and he is not trying to impose it on the states.
Action should be taken against those arrested for alleged Naxal links if there was evidence, he said.
Manhas went missing after the April 3 gunfight between Naxals and security personnel near Sukma-Bijapur border.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemned the attack.
The audacious strike on top Congress leaders by a Naxal battalion in Chhattisgarh on Saturday has proved that the left-wing extremists have no intention of pausing their armed struggle against the government. An official of the Central Reserve Police Force, the paramilitary force which has been deployed across Naxalism-hit areas, explained the situation on the ground to Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa.
The operation was conducted between June 23 and 25, the police said.
The interim budget 2024-25 on Thursday allocated Rs 202868.70 crore to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) with the highest share of funds going to the paramilitary forces like Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF) and Central Industrial Secular Force (CISF), showing priority on internal security and border guarding.
This is suspected to be a Naxal ambush for security forces. Maoists fired multiple rounds while attacking the vehicle-mounted team, the official said.
"The voting percentage is likely to go upwards when reports from all polling stations are obtained as polling is scheduled till 6 pm in many constituencies. Final figures will be known on Saturday after the scrutiny of form 17A," the EC said.
'The Congress is trying to reinvent itself -- the caste census demand, OBC emphasis, the anti-corporate thrust, especially on Adani etc -- all this is not standard Congress strategy.'
A Naxal commander was killed and many ultras are feared injured in an encounter with a joint team of police and the Central Reserve Police Force in Bijapur forests of Chhattisgarh, the police said on Tuesday.
In a major breakthrough, the Chhattisgarh police arrested six Naxals including an alleged deputy commander who were involved in blowing up a bus recently in which 32 people were killed.
A top Naxal commander and aide of dreaded Maoist leader Kundan Pahan was on Wednesday killed by security forces in a pre-dawn encounter in the forests of Khunti district of Jharkhand.
When the MPV carrying six personnel was around one km away from the camp, ultras triggered a powerful land mine blast, he said.
Security experts say there has been complacency in handling the Naxal issue since the number of attacks has gone down over the years. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
Three Naxals were arrested on Tuesday and a cache of arms, ammunition and electronic gadgets seized after security forces busted a Maoist transit camp in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district, the police said.
Roads are of great importance to win the war against the rebels in Sukma
'Just because we haven't reached out, the Naxalites have come and taken over these places. A vacuum cannot exist, someone comes and fills it up and they have done that.' Vijay Raman, Special Director General, Anti Naxal Task Force, in an exclusive interview.
Additional Director General (Naxal operations) Ram Niwas said that a police team of 145 troopers was on a search operation in the Chintalnaar area, when the Naxals struck.
In the coming days, unless Modi tones down the communal spiel, it will be clear that anxiety continues to drive his mind and clouds his judgment, observes Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
This is the fourth IED blast triggered by Naxals in Chhattisgarh in the last 15 days.
Three Naxals, including a woman, were killed in a police encounter in the jungles of Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh on Thursday, police said.
A couple of years ago when the Telangana movement was at its peak, there was much talk that its formation could lead to the rise of a Naxal movement. Many Telangana supporters dismissed this view, stating that this was just another ploy by the Union government to stall the formation of the state. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The Naxal movement is today facing leadership issues, losing favour with the Tribals and is confused about its future agenda and course of action.
Eight wanted Naxals, three of them carrying rewards on their heads, were arrested from separate places in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Bastar region on Thursday, the police said.
In a major anti-Naxal operation, seven Maoists were killed in Betkathi village in Maharashtra's Gondia district in the wee hours on Tuesday.
A study sponsored by the Union Home ministry has recommended that Naxal sympathisers should be "left alone" to the confinement of seminar halls rather than persecuting them.
The new battalion, numbered 241, was named Bastariya because it included recruits from Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur, and Sukma districts.
Over 600 bullets and a dozen improvised explosive devices recovered after a gunbattle.