Fighting biggest national security challenge: Home ministry asks state govts to target top leaders of CPI (Maoist)

NEW DELHI: The Union home ministry has asked state governments to “target” top leaders of CPI (Maoist), seeking to step up its intended offensive against Left-wing extremism amid concern that not a single extremist has been neutralised since Narendra Modi-led NDA came to power in May.

"The state police has been told to target the top leaders of CPI (Maoist) by constituting dedicated teams comprising personnel drawn from state police, Central Armed Police Forces and central as well as state intelligence agencies," a senior officer of Central Reserve Police Force told ET on condition of anonymity.

These teams will work only on apprehending the top leadership of CPI (Maoist), the officer said, adding that the state governments had also been told to substantially increase the reward on the heads of the leaders.

ET has also learnt that on June 27 Home Minister Rajnath Singh, at a highlevel review meeting with heads of police forces of the states and CAPFs, made a pitch for "political commitment" from the state governments for "eliminating Naxalism" from the country, describing it as the "biggest national security challenge". At least two senior CAPF officials aware of the deliberations at the meeting told ET that the home ministry expressed concern on the "overwhelmingly skewed casualty ratio" in favour of the Maoists vis-à-vis security forces and questioned why no Naxal cadre had been neutralised since the new government took charge on May 26 despite 100 battalions (1.2 lakh men) of CAPFs being involved in anti-Maoist operations.

Till May 26, Maoists killed 57 security personnel and 101 civilians while suffering only 33 casualties in return, the ministry pointed out at the meeting. The ministry has laid out a 29-point action plan against Naxals, an official said. The action plan includes making "full use of media — social, electronic and print — to demystify" the local populace from the adverse propaganda undertaken by CPI (Maoist) and "create a public perception" in favour of the government, another senior CAPF official said.

"The home ministry has asked for a legal crackdown against NGOs which act as front organisations of Maoists and floated a concept of ‘smart counter-insurgent" by introspection and improvement in the tactical skills of security forces," the officer said. Home Secretary Anil Goswami said Naxals had rejected the call of the government to abjure violence and come for talks, even as they retained their "core strength" in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha and were capable of resorting to "spectacular strikes", as per the CAPF official.