A vacation bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and Deepak Verma took up the matter on Monday after senior advocate Shanti Bhushan on May 22 mentioned Sen's petition in which a notice was issued to the Chhattisgarh government on May 4.
Denying reports that Jharkhand had slackened anti-Maoist operations, state police chief on Friday said that they will launch a major operation against the ultras within the next couple of days.
Chhattisgarh had little respite from naxal violence in 2008 which claimed over 200 lives and forced about 50,000 people to take shelter in relief camps in the state, where elections were held under unprecedented security in two phases.
Ruling out the possibility of Naxals shooting down the helicopter of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, Union Minister M M Pallam Raju on Thursday said the mishap that claimed Reddy's life took place due to bad weather."The possibility of a Naxal strike on the chief minister's helicopter is ruled out completely. It was an accident due to bad weather. There is no hand of Naxalites," Minister of State for Defence Raju said.
Maoists on Monday blew up a mobile tower in Palamau district on the first day of their 48-hour bandh in five states.
Swamy demanded to dismiss the AAP government in Delhi and asked for President Rule.
A senior secretary revealed that he had not slept well for more than a month, especially after the United Progressive Alliance returned to power.
A Hyderabad court acquitted three accused in the murder of Indian Police Service officer K S Vyas following lack of evidence.
The surrendered Naxal said such arguments and counter-arguments led to internal dispute. "I felt suffocated and a sense of remorse started setting in."
'Silencing citizens has become a major institutional process under this regime.' 'The anti-Indian argument is a bogey -- meant to silence independent thinking people in India and turn us into goats and sheep.'
The home ministry's decision to agree to talk with the Maoists without pre-conditions may be the first steps to tackling the problem, writes P V Ramana.
'If I am not there, the RSS would do that job. They are obviously in power, they can do anything.'
Twelve Maoists were on Tuesday gunned down in an encounter with the police in Palamau district in Jharkhand.
A leading international human rights group has alleged that the Orissa government is recruiting children under 18 years of age as Special Police Officers to fight Naxalite insurgents, and asked the state to take measures to stop the practice. In a letter to Orissa Chief Minister Navin Patnaik, the Human Rights Watch asked the state government to develop and put into practice measures to ensure that children are not recruited as SPOs.
Kobad Ghandy, the politburo member of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist, will utilise his time in Tihar Jail to write a book on wife Anuradha, who was his comrade- in-arms for two decades in the naxalite movement. Sources said the 59-year-old Ghandy has requested the authorities for paper to write the book.
The JMM-Cong-RJD alliance won 47 seats in 81-member assembly while the incumbent BJP managed to win only 25 seats. CM Das lost his seat to a party rebel despite giving the first full-term government to the state.
Even as aluminium maker Nalco plans to restart operations at its Panchpatmali bauxite mines in Koraput district on Thursday, the employees stay too scared to go back to work.
Prominent Indian-origin academics in the United Kingdom have asked for immediate release of renowned human rights activist Binayak Sen, who has been imprisoned in Chhattisgarh since May 2007 for alleged links with Naxalites. "As the world's economic powers gather in London this week, with India among them, we hope they will take the time to consider human rights as well as the credit crunch. In particular, we call attention to the continuing imprisonment of Dr Sen," they said
Naxals looted six automatic weapons -- two AK-47s and as many INSAS and self loading rifles -- of the deceased personnel.
To step up the pressure on the banned Naxalite outfit the Communist Party of India-Maoist, the Andhra Pradesh government has announced cash reward worth lakhs of rupees for information on 474 Maoist cadres. The wanted activists include underground extremists, senior members of the central committee and squad members. The list, issued by the government recently, includes 87 new names. The govt has announced a reward of Rs 12 lakh for party general secretary Muppal Lakshman.
Jawans belonging to the 170 Battalion of the force who were on duty were fired upon by the ultras and the resulting skirmish left at least seven personnel dead, they said.
Naxal violence in Orissa has also put several investment proposals in jeopardy.
Three security personnel were killed and two others injured on Wednesday night when Naxalites blasted a police outpost building at Vishrampuri in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh.
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.
Ansari was a receipient of the President's Award for his outstanding service and posted specially at the Naxal-dominated area. DIG R K Mulklick and police spokespersons told UNI in Ranchi that the OC of Sikaripara police station and two constables were killed in the encounter that began at about 0300 hours.
Six Central Reserve Police Force personnel, including an inspector, were killed in a landmine blast triggered by Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district on Friday. The incident occurred on a state highway when the CRPF team was proceeding on an anti-Naxalite operation from Konda to Narayanpur at around 11 am, CRPF spokesman Ajay Chaturvedi said.
Apart from those wearing the number 23 Delhi Daredevils jersey with Gambhir printed on the back, there were 21 others who would have loved to see Gambhir play on Friday.
In a virtual disapproval of anti-Naxalite group Salwa Judum in Chhattisgarh, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said that the Centre was not in favour of 'non-state actors' taking the job of law enforcement in their hands. "We are not in favour of non-state actors taking law enforcement in their hands," he said during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha.
Upbeat over their two major successful attacks against the police on Andhra-Orissa border in less than one month, in which more than 50 policemen were killed, the Maoist rebels are now gearing up to target the police stations to loot the arms. This warning has been issued by the central intelligence agency -- the Intelligence Bureau -- in its report assessing the overall situation of the Naxalite problem in the country.
With Naxalite activities continuing to spread in Orissa, the state has decided to prepare a comprehensive strategy to control violence by Maoist activists and restore law and order in trouble-torn areas.
Suspected Maoists on Wednesday blew up railway tracks between Badagopal and Avtar Nagar stations under Sonepur division of East Central Railway, affecting train services on the New Delhi-Guwahati route. An unspecified number of Maoist guerrillas blew up the down line between the two stations, falling in the Chapra parliamentary constituency of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, at around 6.30 am, sources said.
The two-phased polls in Chattisgarh will be held on November 14 and 20 while elections will be held in Madhya Pradesh on November 25, Mizoram and Delhi on November 29 and Rajasthan on December 4. Counting of votes in all the states will be taken up on December 8.
Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was on a three-day visit to Jharkhand as a state guest from February 17 to 19
An estimated 45 percent of the 1.10 crore electorate in Karnataka on Friday exercised their franchise till 1500 hours during the second phase of polling, which was marked by minor incidents of voters boycotting the polls over 'mix-up' in voters list and lack of basic amenities, the police said. However, the poll process remained incident free so far, the sources said.
A government quarters situated near the tower was also blasted by the naxals, the officer told PTI in Hyderabad.
On a tip-off that the Naxalites had stopped construction of a culvert on the Badgaon-Chhindgaon road, a police team from Badgaon police station headed for the spot on foot, when the ultras exploded the landmine near Chhindgaon village, killing the three
Director Madhupal has taken a bold subject for his debut film Thalappavu. It deserves to be watched just for the performance of Lal.
This is the fourth IED blast triggered by Naxals in Chhattisgarh in the last 15 days.
The RTI query revealed that 3,125 security personnel, too, lost their lives tackling the Naxal menace.
All shops and markets remained closed in both east and west Midnapur district.
