Naxal-prone states to get Indian Reserve Battalions

NEW DELHI, MARCH 6: The Centre on Monday decided to make available a battalion of India Reserve Battalions (RIB) to each of the five naxal...

NEW DELHI, MARCH 6: The Centre on Monday decided to make available a battalion of India Reserve Battalions (RIB) to each of the five naxalite-affected states to tackle the menace of Left-wing violence which has witnessed a renewed spurt in recent months.

One RIB battalion will be placed at the disposal of each of the five Left-wing violence prone states and local police force will be provided modern weapons as also communication and monitoring equipment as part of a new operational strategy, Home Secretary Kamal Pande told newsmen after a day-long meeting of Coordination Centre set up to contain naxalite activities.

Pande, chairman of the Centre, said senior officials of the affected states stressed for aerial survey of the affected zones and it was agreed that a re-look at aerial photography will be taken. A final decision on this would be taken after going into the efficacy and cost effectiveness of various systems, he added.

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Pande said there are indications that some Left-wing extremist groups particularly those near the Indo-Nepal border were getting support from Pakistan’s intelligence agency, ISI.

He said though there were no hard facts with him on this but government had been receiving reports for the last two years about the nexus between the ISI and Left-wing groups particularly People’s War Group (PWG) and Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) which have a manpower strength of 5,000 and 2,000 respectively.

Pande said the government was aware that ISI would spare no effort to exploit any situation to foment trouble in the country and necessary steps been taken to counter this.

In view of heightened pattern of Left-wing violence, Home Minister L K Advani would convene a meeting of Home Ministers of five states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra either this month-end or the next month to work out a development plan for the affected areas.The meeting will also finalise a determined action plan to meet the security situation in these areas, requiring long-term and short-term attention, the Home Secretary said.

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He said at least 35 districts of these five states were in the grip of naxalite menace.

At the two-day meeting here, the states also pointed out that they should be given modern equipment for communication and operations. They also decided to impart training to police personnel for specialised operational methods to stamp out naxalite violence.