Rethink on strategy to counter Naxals

NEW DELHI:Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has convened a meeting of chief ministers and top security officials of Left wing extremists (LWE)-infested states, following suggestions that yesterday’s Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh, which left 25 CRPF men dead, points to a leadership failure and requires an overhaul of the standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and other leaders pay tribute to CRPF jawans killed in the Naxal attack in Raipur. PTI

Tribune News service

New Delhi, April 25

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has convened a meeting of chief ministers and top security officials of Left wing extremists (LWE)-infested states, following suggestions that yesterday’s Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh, which left 25 CRPF men dead, points to a leadership failure and requires an overhaul of the standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Edit: Bloodbath in Sukma

The Centre has also sounded an alert in all neighbouring states as a massive manhunt is underway to nab the culprits. Intelligence sources confirmed the Hidima-led group was behind the deadly attack.

IB inputs suggest Hidima, who has been active in the region for the past few months, was also involved in this year’s pre-Holi attack that left 12 security personnel dead, MHA sources said.

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Hidima heads the woman wing of insurgent group People Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA). The group is controlled by its deputy commander Situ and is supervised by secretary Ganpati. But agencies have repeatedly failed to trace the exact location of the woman commander because she keeps changing her position.

In Chhattisgarh, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, after paying homage to martyred CRPF jawans, confirmed that he would hold a meeting with all LWE-affected states on May 8 to find ways to root out Naxalism in the country. “We will review the strategy and, if necessary, we will revisit it,” he is reported to have said there, while adding that the attack was a “cold-blooded murder” and an “act of cowardice and desperation”.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has also sought a detailed report from the CRPF on what went wrong in Sukma, sources said, while adding that such a high casualty figure is “just not acceptable to the government”. There is a general feeling that the Sukma attack points to a “leadership failure” and there is a need to “overhaul” the SOPs for forces on the ground and also the strategy, sources said.