Will review strategy to nail naxals: Rajnath Singh

NEW DELHI: Home minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday termed the Maoist attack killing at least 25 CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh a day before a “cold blooded murder” and said the government will take strong action against those responsible for it.

Singh said a joint meeting of various state government officials will take place on May 8 to strengthen the strategy against the Maoists and even revise it, if required.

A nearly 100-strong patrol party was ambushed in Sukma district on Monday. Apart from those who died, six personnel of the CRPF were critically injured.

The soldiers were guarding road workers in the district, a hotbed of insurgent violence, when they came under heavy fire.

On Tuesday, the minister visited the injured soldiers in hospital and said they were out of danger. “Naxalites are using tribals as fodder. Tribals are being used as human shields,” he said.

Singh, who visited Raipur to take stock of the situation, said the government will review its strategy to combat Maoist militancy and deploy more senior officers in the region. “It is an act of desperation. We have accepted it as a challenge. We will review the strategy and if necessary we will revisit it,” his ministry tweeted.

The minister called the attack a “desperate attempt” to block development and said the government had taken the strike as a challenge.