Patil to visit Naxal areas in Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh accounts for more than one-third of Naxal violence in the country, even though the casualties in such incidents has come down drastically this year.

Up to March, the state had seen 124 incidents of Naxal violence, in which 18 policemen and 22 civilians have been killed. During the same period last year, there had been 145 incidents in which 81 policemen and 55 civilians had died.

Home Ministry sources said Patil will visit a few police stations in the region and make an assessment of their preparedness to tackle the Naxals. He will also go to CRPF posts and talk to the jawans. There are 13 battalions of CRPF deployed in the state.

The minister will also talk to the villagers to get a first-hand account of the situation prevailing in the state.

Coming in the wake of the recent Supreme Court observation on Salwa Judum, this sensitive issue is also likely to come up for informal discussions when the Home Minister meets senior district and state officials.

Expressing disapproval regarding the state Government’s initiative to give arms to people to defend themselves against the Naxals, the apex court had observed in March that the state could not just give arms to people and ask them to kill.