In the latest worry for security forces grappling with the Naxal menace in Jharkhand, a captured Naxalite leader has revealed plans for major strikes during the March 25 elections for local bodies .A 25-year-old woman Naxalite arrested from in Jharkhand’s Chatra district is learnt to have told the Central Reserve Police Force and local police that primary schools would be set fire to in the area and at least six persons associated with the elections would be killed.The Naxalites have reportedly also drawn up a hit list, including about a dozen government officers, Home Ministry sources said here.Elections are to be held to 28 civic bodies across the state.Sushma Devi, who was captured on Monday, is said to be part of a Naxal core group that regularly meets in the forest between Chatra and Hazaribagh districts. At the meeting held this Sunday, the cadres were reportedly briefed about the “action” planned over the next week.Each of them was assigned specific roles in the operation, sources said.The information is worrying the security forces as it fits in with the assessment that the Naxalites have begun to target politicians. The first big strike of this nature was the killing of JMM MP Sunil Mahato in a village near Jamshedpur in March last year.While targeting the big names, the Naxalites hope to instill fear among political activists at the lower level as well with such strikes.Jharkhand has seen a sharp rise in Naxal-related violence over the past few years. The number of civilians killed has gone up from 92 in 2005 to 149 in 2007.
