Maoist attack: Centre moves to secure mines

KOLKATA: The home ministry has swung into action in the aftermath of Sunday���s daring Maoist strike at Nalco���s bauxite mines in Damanjodi, Orissa. A team of top officials belonging to the home and mine ministries met in Delhi to discuss the ���threat perception to all mineral industries��� in an attempt to thrash out a comprehensive counter-strategy to combat terror.

���The extremist threat to all mineral industries was discussed thread-bare at a meeting between officials of the home and mines ministries in Delhi,��� a senior government official told ET on condition of anonymity.
Incidentally, the mines and home ministry have discussed the issue for the first time perhaps. Nalco is, after all, a navratna PSU under the union mine ministry.

���The home ministry has taken very serious note of the incident in which 11 CISF jawans and seven Maoist rebels were killed. An indica-tion is the fact that they have convened another meeting on April 20, within a week of the first one held on Monday,��� the official added.

The meeting assumes significance, given the growing incidence of terror strikes that are threatening to pulverise the country���s mining industry.

Last June, the Maoists blew up 220-KV power transmission towers at the Dantewada forest in Chhatisgarh���s restive south Bastar. This halted work in the region, including NMDC���s iron ore mines, for over a week. However, there was little by way of follow-up security measures.

But when terror struck last Sunday, 55 Nalco employees returning from the evening shift at Damanjodi mines were taken hostage by a 200-strong band of armed Maoists, who managed to escape with a truck containing nine tonnes of explosives. The latest incident seems to have finally spurred the concerned central ministries into action.
���Clearly, this is not a Nalco issue alone. The bigger issue is security in the mines, which are home to the nation���s mineral treasures,��� a top Nalco official summed aptly.