Govt calls meet of top officials of Naxal-hit states on Feb 22

NEW DELHI: With red terror continuing in different parts of the country, the Home Ministry has convened a meeting of top police and civil officers of Maoist-affected states on Wednesday to take stock of anti-Naxal operations and fine tune the strategy.

Chief Secretaries and Directors General of Police of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh will take part in the meeting that will have in-depth deliberations on the security situation in the Maoist belt.

Official sources said the top officials would fine-tune the issue of coordination among state police and central police forces and firm up a strategy on how to go after the Naxals who often flee from one state to another after committing a crime.

The killing of four BSF personnel in Odisha's Malkangiri last week is expected to figure in the meeting as such incidents keep happening despite the Home Ministry suggesting security personnel to take maximum precautions while travelling in Naxal-dominated areas.

The meeting will also review the development programmes being carried out in Naxal-affected districts and ways to speed them up to reach the maximum number of people.

Naxal violence has been reported in areas falling under 270 police stations in 64 districts in eight states.

The level of violence in left-wing extremism-affected states is still unacceptably high with 447 civilians and 142 security personnel killed in 2011.