Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday said lack of development in Chhattisgarh has forced some people to adopt the wrong path of Naxalism.
Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Tuesday disfavoured use of air force in dealing with Naxalism, a day after Home Minister P Chidambaram said he was trying to 'convince"' the Cabinet on providing air support to anti-Naxal operations.
In an ominous development, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence has roped in separatist leaders and their sympathisers to make inroads in Naxal ranks in its anti-India strategies after making a failed attempt to enlist the support of the Maoist rebels.
The UAV was in operation in Chhattisgarh for quite sometime and results are excellent, he said adding now as part of a strategy, the UAV will be positioned over eastern Maharashtra.
The skirmish took place in the wee hours in the restive Dabba-Kunna hills when the joint team of the CRPF and STF was out on an anti-Maoist operation.
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Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Wednesday vowed to take "revenge" for Tuesday's Naxal ambush in which 15 security personnel and a civilian were killed in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, saying the attack could be an attempt to disrupt the Lok Sabha polls.
Over 100 armed Naxals attacked security forces conducting search operation in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district on Sunday morning, killing five personnel, including three from the Border Security Force, and injuring one, the police said.
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.
In the wake of the attack by Naxal in Chhattisgarh, killing 28 people, including political leaders and security forces, R R Patil, home minister of Maharashtra, talks to Sanjay Jog on what is to be done.
In a brazen daytime attack, Naxals on Tuesday ambushed a security team killing 15 personnel including 11 of the Central Reserve Police Force and also a civilian in a chilling reminder of the 2010 massacre of 76 securitymen in the same area in the worst-hit Sukma district of Chhattisgarh.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Bad weather and hostile terrain have hampered the evacuation operation in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Sukma district where armed rebels had on Saturday ambushed a team of Special Task Force killing seven personnel.
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.
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.
Rediff.com takes a look at the most deadly Naxal attacks on security forces over the last five years.
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.
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.
Barring Chhattisgarh, the situation is under control in other states.
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.
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.
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.
A maximum of 92,000 personnel of CAPFs are likely to be deployed in politically volatile West Bengal, where elections will be held in seven phases, followed by 63,500 personnel in militancy-hit Jammu and Kashmir, where polling will be held in five phases.
Lakra, who will soon join a private airline as a co-pilot, has achieved this feat after years of hard work.
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.
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.
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.
The bodies of four police officials, who were abducted on Monday by Naxals, were found in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Bijapur district on Wednesday.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
