IG-level officers in Naxal areas can seek BSF copters
A day after he told Parliamentarians that the Naxal problem can be overcome within three years, home minister P. Chidambaram said that the timeline of three years was meant to “dispel the notion that it is a matter of weeks or months”.
“In three years, our aim is to contain the Naxal problem substancially....Ultimately it has to be a change of heart in the rebels on their belief in armed struggle,” he said while speaking at his ministry’s monthly press conference on Friday. He said that the government aims to contain Maoist violence in three years through “security and development” efforts.
In a bid to reduce the reaction time of anti-Naxal operations, Mr Chidambaram said that powers for requisition of BSF helicopters have been delegated to the IG (operations) CRPF of the state concerned instead of the state police. The recently-appointed CRPF inspector-general level officers are deployed in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal, where a new “unified command” will be set up to bolster the anti-Naxal operations. The ministry has also sanctioned Rs 45 lakhs for procurement of 30 satellite phones for the BSF to aid personnel who are operating in thick jungles and forward areas where normal mobile connections don’t work.
Reacting to the IED blast in Assam on Friday, Mr Chidambaram said that “not all rebel groups have come to the negotiating table”.
He said that one faction each of the NDFB and Ulfa are opposed to the peace talks. However, he said that the cause for the blast is yet to be determined.
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