Forces start moving for anti-Naxal offensive,to be deployed by next week

Following the completion of polling in three states,security forces have begun moving to the Naxal-affected areas where a major offensive against the ultra-left organisations is being planned from next month....

Following the completion of polling in three states,security forces have begun moving to the Naxal-affected areas where a major offensive against the ultra-left organisations is being planned from next month.

Government sources said that by early next week,the force deployment would be complete in the six districts selected for the first phase of the operation against the Naxalites.

The six districts are spread over two geographical areas,one along the border of Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra and the other around the tri-junction of Chhattisgarh,Jharkhand and Orissa.

In addition to the Central forces already stationed in the Naxal-affected states,15 additional battalions have been summoned for the operation that is expected to be a long-haul process.

Apart from the Central Reserve Police Force CRPF,which has been leading the fight against the Naxalites along with the state police forces,Border Security Force BSF and Indo-Tibetan Border Police ITBP have also contributed personnel for the operation.

Sources said five battalions of BSF and two from ITBP have already reached ground zero in Chhattisgarh.

The CRPF also pulled out some of its men from Jammu and Kashmir and the north-eastern states to reinforce its strength in the Naxal-affected regions.

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A coordinated armed action against the Naxalite groups,involving all the affected state governments and the Central government,has been in the works for quite a long time now,but had to be held back because of the Assembly elections in the states of Maharashtra,Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh.

The Maoist groups have stepped up their activity in the last couple of months and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has repeatedly described Naxalism as the greatest security threat being faced by the country.

Simultaneously with the armed operation,the government also intends to initiate development projects in the Naxal-affected regions,many of which are extremely remote with little or no presence of any official infrastructure.

The government has earmarked Rs 7,300 crore over the next five years just for construction of roads in 34 of the worst affected districts. Of this,Rs 900 crore would be released this year itself.