At a time when the Naxal threat is looming large over some states, Union home secretary R.K. Singh has pointed fingers at some state governments saying they lack “commitment’’ in fighting Naxalism.
According to him, in these states, the local police or the state police is not taking the “initiative’’. Mr Singh’s comments came at a time when Orissa was still reeling under the Maoist hostage crisis.
Speaking before a Parliamentary Panel about the problems being faced in “tackling the menace of Naxalism’’ in April, Mr Singh said that he wants to be “frank’’ while making his observations.
“The operations in which our forces (Central forces) are engaged, are very difficult for our forces for a number of reasons. Again, I will be very frank. Our forces go to the state, they are from outside. It is the state police force which has local knowledge and local intelligence which is supposed to have the ground level intelligence, they are supposed to know the situation on the ground. They are supposed to have sources in the rural areas to find out as to where these armed groups are. The Central Armed Police Forces are supposed to assist them. Unfortunately, we find that in some states, I will not say all states, this is happening, but in some states this is not happening,’ he said.