Suspected Naxalites on Thursday attacked the residence of Chhattisgarh's woman and child welfare minister in Kondagao district and killed a security guard posted there, the police said.
Naxals have called a bandh in Gadchiroli and Gondia districts of Maharashtra on July 15 to protest the killing of fellow women in recent encounters.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said an "integrated approach" was needed to tackle the Naxal menace as "enforcement action alone" would lead to their wider alienation.
Amid controversy over a recent Naxal encounter in Chhattisgarh, Chief Minister Raman Singh on Tuesday urged political parties not to politicise the issue. "The Bijapur encounter was not a planned encounter. Such issues should not be politicised," Singh told reporters after meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The Maharashtra government is ready to hold talks with those involved in Naxal activities as well as their sympathisers, Home Minister R R Patil said on Thursday.
Anti-landmine vehicles used by security forces in Naxal operations are undergoing major changes in their armour content and ergonomics to withstand huge blasts and minimise loss of troop lives.
India is deploying cutting-edge technology to defeat a simple insurgent weapon that J&K militants and Naxals are using to lethal effect: the Improvised Explosive Device, or IED. Swedish company Saab has offered to partner India's Defence Research and Development Organisation in fitting Saab's CARABAS radar on India's Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), which would allow the scanning of wide swathes of territory to detect IEDs well before they can be exploded.
Naxals are possibly receiving foreign funds but the chunk of their money comes from extortion of corporate houses and 'levy' imposed by them on mining, the government said on Wednesday.
Ahead of the July 24 National Development Council (NDC) meeting, the Planning Commission will come out with a report on the problems in the Naxal-hit areas and the issues being faced by tribals.
Newly appointed Central Reserve Police Force Director General Vikram Srivastav described Naxal violence in some parts of the country as more challenging than dealing with terrorist groups.
Four Central Reserve Police Force jawans were killed and as many injured when Naxals ambushed a road opening party of the security forces in Maoist-hit Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh on Wednesday, the police said.
Barring Chhattisgarh, the situation is under control in other states.
The bodies of four police officials, who were abducted on Monday by Naxals, were found in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Bijapur district on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will convene a crucial Cabinet meeting to discuss the "limited mandate" given to the home ministry to deal with the Naxal violence.
The Maoist attack near Dantewada in Chhattisgarh is the fifth major strike by Naxals in the country this year.
In a major haul, a whopping Rs 29 lakh were seized from a Maoist dump in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon district, the police said on Tuesday.
Fourteen vehicles engaged in road construction work in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district were set afire by suspected Naxals who have also threatened to stop further work, police said on Wednesday.
The anti-Naxal operation in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region has been suspended in the wake of abduction of Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon.
Three Central Reserve Police Force jawans were killed in an encounter with Naxalites in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district on Saturday.
Kanu Sanyal, one of the founders of the Naxal movement in India, committed suicide on Tuesday. The veteran leader hanged himself in his residence at Seftullajote village, 25 km from Siliguri, on Tuesday.
As many as 455 people (255 civilians and 200 security personnel) have been killed in Naxal violence this year, reveal figures released by the Home Ministry.The Naxal-infested states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand account for 60 per cent of the total deaths in the country in this period.While Chhattisgarh topped the list with 148 deaths, Jharkhand recorded 122 deaths. On the other hand, of the 107 Naxals killed in the same period, 63 were in Chhattisgarh.
Naxals in Chhattisgarh are allowed to get married but they are forced by their senior leaders in undergoing vasectomy surgical procedure to prevent them from having children.
A Central Reserve Police Force jawan was killed and another injured in an encounter with Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on Monday. The gunfight broke out between the ultras and CRPF personnel in Alpal Metta village in Sukma district when a CRPF team along with the Chattisgarh police force went to the region for area domination, said Additional Director General of Police Ram Niwas.
Gearing up for a strong offensive against left wing extremism, Chhattisgarh police have claimed to have intensified the process of setting-up 'fortified police stations' in Bastar region in order to strengthen security apparatus in the Naxal-hit area.
Thirteen Naxals were arrested and a huge cache of weapons and explosives was seized from the naxal-infested Abuzmad region, as a part of the joint operation of Chhattisgarh police and Central Reserve Police Force, a top police official said.
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.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday accused Congress of indulging in "petty politics" by accusing Chhattisgarh government of failing to provide adequate security to Congress leaders killed in the Naxal attack.
The CoBRA team and other troops are still undertaking the operation.
Three Chhattisgarh Armed Force jawans and a Naxalite were killed in an encounter between the ultras and security personnel in Maoist-hit Narayanpur district on Tuesday.
In a hard-hitting attack on Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Jharkhand for its "ineffective" anti-Naxal operations, Home Minister P Chidambaram has said despite the alarming escalation in Maoist violence, no serious effort has been made by the state government to deal with the extremists. In a letter to Chief Minister Arjun Munda, Chidambaram said Jharkhand became the most affected state in Naxal violence in 2011 and the situation there was a "major cause for concern".
Counter insurgency operations alone will not end Naxalism as the government needs to address its "root cause", which is the issue of forests and land rights, former BSF Director General E N Rammohan, who probed the Dantewada killings last month, said Friday.
At least five to six Naxalites are suspected to have been killed or injured in an exchange of fire that took place at Pomke Tadgaon in Bhamragarah taluka in Gadchiroli district on Wednesday morning, the police said.
Did the ill-gotten money of former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda and his associates, who are allegedly involved in the Hawala and illegal investments case, find its way to Naxal groups?
Treading cautiously, Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren on Monday said he was not against using force to curb Naxalism, but maintained that if the solution lay in talks then there was no need for a "confrontation".
Major urban centres, including the national capital, may witness targeted killings by Maoists in coming months as the ultras are looking for opportunities to carry out violence, intelligence reports have warned.
The Naxals are planning to enforce "poll boycott" in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls by disrupting the election process in Maoist affected states.
Chhattisgarh: Naxals kill 2 BJP leaders
Naxals have abducted a village sarpanch in eastern Maharashtra, the police said.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the nation was facing a threat from Naxalism and terrorism.
A CRPF jawan was killed and another injured in a gun-fight with Naxals on Tuesday in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Bijapur district.
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