Shoot-at-sight orders have been issued to security forces deployed across Left Wing Extremism affected states after a 'serious and new' threat of possession and operation of drones by Maoist cadres came to light recently, officials said on Sunday.
Mediators on Friday failed to achieve any breakthrough to secure the release of abducted Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon after the second round of talks even as Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh asserted that the demands of the Maoists would be considered only "within the legal framework".
Talks between Maoist-handpicked mediators and those of the Chhattisgarh government commenced on Thursday to end the hostage crisis involving Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon who was abducted on Saturday, official sources said.
The anti-Naxal operation in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region has been suspended in the wake of abduction of Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon.
Andrabi, the founder of the Dukhtaran-e-Millat, an Islamist separatist organisation is also a member of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference.
The Chhattisgarh government has unleashed a "soft" tactic in its war against the Naxals - residential schools for poor children. Devjyot Ghoshal travels to Dantewada, Bastar and Sukma to see for himself
In the wake of the 12-day hostage crises that ended after the release of Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Friday sought a national policy to deal with such situations. "There has to be a national policy to deal with hostage crises. I will ask Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in tomorrow's meeting to call all chief ministers to discuss it. There is a need to discuss it briefly," Singh told reporters.
On February 16 last year, while serving as the collector of Malkangiri district of Odisha, R Vineel Krishna was abducted by Naxals. He was released nine days later. The IAS officer recounts his experience
Would the Maoists lose the support of the middle-class and urban intelligentsia by continuing to use kidnapping as a propaganda tool? Dr P V Ramana analyses
A day after Maoists' mediators announced that abducted Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon will be released within 48 hours, the Chhattisgarh government said it was hopeful that the ten-day hostage crisis will come to an end today and the IAS officer would be freed by Wednesday. The breakthrough to ensure the safe return of the 32-year-old collector, who was abducted on April 21, came in the form of an agreement between the two mediators of the Chattisgarh government.
'Counter-insurgency operations cannot be conducted by following inflexible SOPs.' 'It is unwise to enter jungles with a large body of troops without precise intelligence,' asserts counter-insurgency expert Brigadier Narender Kumar (retd).
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Monday said that there was some progress in the talks with Maoists for the release of abducted Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon, with both sides agreeing on some points.
Not ruling out the violation of Standard Operating Procedures when such a huge movement of central forces is taking place in the troubled state, officials requesting anonymity said a clear picture on loopholes, if any, will be known after a thorough probe.
The first deadline set by Maoists for meeting their demands to set free abducted Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon passed Wednesday amid reports it has been extended till Friday to give talks between mediators of Chattisgarh government and Naxals a chance.
Former chairperson of the National Commission of SC/ST, B D Sharma, told rediff.com that he has not been approached by the Chhattisgarh government to mediate in the release of the abducted Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon.
Kidnapped collector Alex Paul Menon's wife Asha, in an exclusive first person account, gives glimpses of her husband's softer side, and requests the Maoists to release him.
Serious brainstorming at the national level is fast becoming a necessity to deal with this phenomenon of abductions by the Maoists. The home ministry's hands-off approach is certainly not what India needs at the moment, says Bibhu Prasad Routray.
'Menon's kidnappers are unlikely to behave like the radical Islamists who have a tendency to displease their own people and community. The Maoists are shrewd and will bargain hard, but not behave recklessly. Young Christians are their primary constituency and they bank heavily on them in the jungles.'
With the Maoists forwarding their demands in exchange for the release of Sukma District Collector Alex Paul Menon, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has reportedly convened a high-level meeting to decide on the future course of action. The Chhattisgarh government has set up a cabinet sub-committee to deal with the situation arising out of Menon's abduction by the Maoists.
Maoists on Sunday demanded release of eight of their jailed leaders in Chattisgarh and a halt to "Operation Green Hunt" in exchange for freedom of Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon, who was safe, a day afer he was abducted. The Maoists also set an April 25 deadline.
The Maoists on Monday set a fresh deadline of May 2 for the Chhatisgarh government to release eight of their jailed associates in exchange for the freedom of Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon in their captivity since the last 10 days.
Even as efforts are on to secure the release of kidnapped Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon, a page created on the 32-year-old officer by his family and friends, on social networking site Facebook has become a big hit.
The development is being seen as a blow to the opposition Congress which was planning to forge a grand alliance in Chhattisgrah to unseat the ruling BJP.
An AK-47 rifle, one SLR, three Insas rifles and a .303 rifle were also recovered from the encounter spot.
He said in most of the Naxal attacks, it has been noticed that villagers were used as human shields by the insurgents during the gun battle.
Iceland retained the top spot while Afghanistan is now the least peaceful country in the world.
The Naxalites who once claimed to be the protectors of poor people are now brutally killing the civilians. On the part of security personnel, a small lapse is landing the poor people in trouble. Monday's stunning incident in Dantewada that killed 35 civilians and policemen when Naxalites blew up a passenger bus stands witness to how the 'saviours' of poor tribals are turning into slaughterers.
At least 40 people were feared killed when suspected Maoists blew up a bus in Dantewada in Chattisgarh on Monday.The bus was carrying 50 people, including jawans and civilians, according to reports. The blast was due to a landmine, said reports.On April 6, 75 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force were killed when hundreds of armed Maoists ambushed their battalion in the thick forests of Mukrana in Dantewada.
Over 100 Naxals on Wednesday ambushed a team of security forces in Chhattisgarh's tribal belt of Bastar on the eve of Lok Sabha polls, killing three commandos of CRPF's CoBRA battalion and injuring five others including two officers in twin attacks.
A CAF constable was killed, while another was injured when a pressure bomb went off allegedly set by Maoists.
Seven policemen were on Saturday killed and 10 persons were injured in a gunbattle with Naxals in the Maoist hotbed of Sukma district in Chhattisgarh.
The Central Reserve Police Force on Thursday said it has ordered an inquiry into the shocking recovery of uniforms, suspected to be that of troopers martyred in a recent Naxal ambush in Chhattisgarh, in a garbage dump near a hospital in state capital Raipur.
A day after killing seven policemen in an ambush in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, the Naxals on Sunday allegedly set ablaze at least 17 vehicles engaged in mining work in insurgency-hit Kanker district, police said.
Ahead of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's rallies in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday, security forces averted a possible landmine explosion, as they diffused two Improvised Explosive Devices weighing 50 kg in the Dantewada area of the state.
Bereaved families of Sukma bravehearts have demanded justice and questioned the intelligence failure and government inaction.
Three youths from Pune, who were allegedly abducted by Naxals while they were on a bicycle rally to spread the message of peace, have been released by the rebels in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, police said.
Naxals looted six automatic weapons -- two AK-47s and as many INSAS and self loading rifles -- of the deceased personnel.
Sheikh Salim Gafur has been selected for the honour as he displayed some rare grit and bravery and continued to drive the bus of the Amarnath pilgrims, which came under attack by the terrorists on July 10, 2017, in Jammu and Kashmir, a home ministry official said.
This is the fourth IED blast triggered by Naxals in Chhattisgarh in the last 15 days.
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.
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