I/II. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/soren-govt-calls-off-antinaxal-ops-has-cops-livid/569998/
Soren govt calls off anti-Naxal ops, has cops livid Manoj Prasad Posted online: Thursday , Jan 21, 2010 at 0832 hrs Ranchi : At a time when states are teaming up to crack down on Naxalites, the Shibu Soren-led government in Jharkhand, one of the states worst affected by Naxal violence, has quietly halted operations, including long range patrols and raids directed at the extremists. And in one of the first fallouts, eight policemen were killed in a landmine blast triggered by Naxals in Gumla last Friday. Central paramilitary forces, including 28 CRPF companies, are being made to wait by the state government while the Special Task Force, comprising personnel of the Jharkhand Armed Police who have been trained in jungle warfare and anti-landmine techniques, are back in the barracks. The securitymen were deployed in the districts of Ranchi, Palamau, Lohardaga and Gumla. Long range patrols and search operations, routine until President’s Rule was lifted in Jharkhand, have been stopped. Officials fear this will allow the Naxalites to rest and recoup. There have even been reports that the Naxal leadership in West Bengal, including its spokesperson Kishenji, had left their hideouts in Lalgarh for the forests of Jharkhand. The Soren government’s move to put the brakes on anti-Naxal operations, within days of taking charge of the state, has set off alarm bells in the security establishment. An Intelligence official told The Indian Express that “Jharkhand is set to become a safe haven” for Naxalites who are beginning to feel the heat in the other states that make up the Red Corridor. On January 12, cadres of the People’s Liberation Front of India, a breakaway faction of the CPI (Maoist), looted people in 12 buses near Piparwar. On January 14, five trucks, engaged in transportation of bauxite ores from the Bagru mines in Lohardaga district, were set ablaze by cadres of the Tritiya Prastuti Committee, another breakaway faction of the CPI (Maoist). On January 15, eight policemen, including ASI Shyam Kishore Singh, were killed when Naxalites targeted them with a landmine in Gumla district. Asked whether the new spurt in Naxal violence indicated that the police were unable to take them on, DGP Neyaz Ahmad declined comment. “I prefer not to talk about it,” he said. The Jharkhand Policemen’s Association (JPA) has been fuming — an estimated 350 police personnel have been killed in Naxal violence since January 2001. “We have had enough. If the government is not ready to fight the Naxals, we will chalk out our own strategy to deal with them,” said JPA secretary Subhash Yadav. Incidentally, Soren fielded three former Naxalites as JMM candidates in the Assembly elections and one of them, Poulus Surin, won from Torpa. So immediately after taking oath on December 30, Soren declared: “We are ready to hold talks. Gun for gun will not end terror and violence.” JMM partner BJP appears divided over the decision to halt operations. While Deputy Chief Minister Raghuvar Das has backed Soren, senior BJP leader and former MLA Saryu Rai has slammed the move. “Nowhere in the country have talks with the Naxals made any headway. Moreover, since our party’s government in Chhattisgarh is pursuing (Union Home Minister) Chidambaram’s action plan, the BJP central leadership should clarify the party stand. If it does not, this will lead to friction within the coalition and the government in Jharkhand,” Rai said. II. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5482661.cms?frm=mailtofriend Centre to hold meet with 5 naxal-affected states 21 Jan 2010, 0346 hrs IST, ET Bureau NEW DELHI: As the joint counter-Naxal action launched recently in Chattisgarh and Maharashtra enters a crucial stage, Union home minister P Chidambaram has convened a meeting of five affected states in Raipur on Friday to review the operational and deployment details. The meeting — to be attended by the chief minister of Chattisgarh, Andhra home minister, chief secretary and DGP of Jharkhand, representatives of Orissa Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and the director-generals of BSF and CRPF — will fine-tune coordination between the states so as to contain the Naxalites within a limited area and prevent their flight across the state borders, possibly into Orissa. The presence of the Jharkhand brass is essentially to gauge the response of the newly-elected Shibu Soren government to the joint anti-Naxal operations originally planned across five states, including Jharkhand. With Soren keen on a dialogue with the Maoists, the launch of operations in Jharkhand has been put on hold for now. In fact, the MHA recently even pulled out 5 CRPF battalions given to the Jharkhand for the joint action and sent them to Orissa. The latter had been asking for more Central forces to plug the possible escape routes of Maoists leading to Orissa. Mr Chidambaram may try to impress upon Jharkhand the need for its participation in the joint counter-Naxal offensive to make it more effective. As per the original joint counter-Naxal plan, the operations were to be launched in Chaibasa region of West Singbhum district and a part of Ranchi soon after the Jharkhand polls. The January 22 meeting is expected to review the operational strategy to push back Naxalites from the infested districts and bring in a rush of development into the “cleared” areas. The meeting is set to be briefed on latest intelligence inputs, which warn of a possible spillover of Maoists to Orissa or beyond Gadchiroli in Maharashtra and indicate Maoist top brass’ move from the jungles to urban centres unaffected by Left-wing extremism. The joint anti-Naxal operations, launched sometime last month, are underway in Kanker and Rajnandgaon in Chattisgarh, besides Gadchiroli in Maharashtra. Around 41 companies of BSF and ITBP, along with the Chattisgarh police, are busy clearing the two districts of Naxalites patch-by-patch, while a simultaneous crackdown is underway in neighbouring Maharashtra. -- Peace Is Doable
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