Govt toughens stand,hints at change in anti-Naxal strategy

Indicating a toughening of stand against Naxalism,Minister of State for Home R P N Singh on Monday suggested that a change of strategy in addressing the menace was necessary in the wake of the attack on Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh that killed top political leaders including PCC chief Nand Kumar Patel and former minister Mahendra Karma.

Indicating a toughening of stand against Naxalism,Minister of State for Home R P N Singh on Monday suggested that a change of strategy in addressing the menace was necessary in the wake of the attack on Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh that killed top political leaders including PCC chief Nand Kumar Patel and former minister Mahendra Karma.

We will definitely have to look at a completely different approach in tackling the Naxal problem, Singh,who was briefed by senior CRPF officials on the attack,said. The kind of brutality and barbarism perpetrated by Maoists in the attack is beyond comprehension. After killing Karma,they not only riddled his body with bullets and punched him with bayonets but also danced around his body.

Singh said in Jharkhand,Naxals had recently planted IEDs in stomachs of security men whom they had killed to inflict further damage.

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Asserting that there had been a major security lapse,Singh maintained that it was now upto the National Investigating Agency to establish the loopholes in the security framework. Obviously,there has been a serious security lapse. Whatever lapses have happened,be it by the Centre or the state,action will be taken wherever dereliction of duty has been there, he said.

Singh stopped short of putting the blame on the Raman Singh government but sought to make a political point when he suggested that states were not putting to good use funds that were sent by the Centre for development in Naxal affected districts.

Investigators, including a bomb squad, combed the site. (Representational)

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