Lower-rung officials of the Chhattisgarh government posted in remote places in Bastar region, a Naxal stronghold, have been forced to attend meetings convened by Maoists in their areas, intelligence reports said on Tuesday.
The disturbing trend, a recent phenomenon, has taken the security circle here by surprise.
The top brass of the police has held several closed-door meetings here to chalk out a strategy to stop the “vulnerable” officials from “deposing” before the Naxals in their areas, police sources said.
“We have received reports that some employees of the state government have been attending Naxal meetings in their areas. We are keeping a vigil on these officials,” Bastar inspector-general of police (IGP) T.J. Longkumar said.
Intelligence sources said officials posted in remote areas in the districts of Dantewada, Sukma, Narayanpur, Kanker and Bijapur have been forced to attend Naxal meetings, where they have been asked to resolve the local problems relating to civic amenities.
Only Naxals’ writ runs in these areas and the lower-level officials posted in these areas do not dare to defy their dictates.
“The officials posted in the Naxal hotbeds like Pamed, Tarlaguda, Abujhmadh, Tadmetla, Karemraka etc. have been left to the mercy of the rebels due to the absence of security. Hence, they have been forced to attend the Naxal meetings not to antagonise them,” a senior police officer told this newspaper here.
Sources said, local Naxal leaders convene village meetings regularly in their respective areas to discuss the problems relating to civic amenities such as repair of defunct bore-wells, supply of seeds to farmers, and irregularities in the supply of public distribution system (PDS) goods.