It’s not as if the sensational kidnapping of Sukma collector Alex Pal Menon Sukma has taken the security agencies completely by surprise.
In fact, the Intelligence Bureau’s multi-agency centre here had issued a very specific alert to the Naxal-infested states, particularly Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and Bihar, about a fortnight ago that the Naxal outfits were planning a big strike, possibly in form of a kidnapping, between April 20 and 30.
Highly-placed intelligence sources said the alert was issued after the agencies received information that top Naxal leaders Kisna and Ramanna had told their cadre to kidnap an important person on lines of what has happened in Orissa, where two foreigners and a BJD MLA had been kidnapped by the Maoists. It now transpires that both Kisna and Ramanna are the mastermind behind Mr Menon’s kidnapping.
Sources claim the movement of these two top Naxal commanders was noticed in Bijapur and Sukma areas of Chhattisgarh over the last few days.
“The intelligence alert probably explains why the collector was accompanied by the two armed guards who unfortunately were killed by the Naxals,” a senior security official said.
The Union home ministry is in constant touch with the state government to assess the situation as this is the first time that an IAS officer and a collator has been kidnapped in Chhattisgarh. The intelligence agencies have asked all Naxal-affected states to remain on high alert as the probability of some more strikes by the Naxals cannot be ruled out.
Meanwhile, though the state government has confirmed to the Centre that Mr Menon was absolutely safe, a high-level security meeting of state police and intelligence officials discussed the possibility of the collector having been shifted to Orissa by the ultras.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are expected to be pressed into service from Monday morning for surveillance in dense jungles of Chhattisgarh and adjoining states, particularly Orissa.
Even as the Naxals have demanded that all operations against them be stopped immediately and that para-military forces should be withdrawn from the Bastar region, the state government has informed the home ministry that it was already in touch with some mediators for a back channel dialogue with the Maoists.