Union home ministry calls two-day meeting on Naxal strategy

NEW DELHI: The Union home ministry has called police chiefs of 27 districts worst affected by left-wing violence for a special two-day interactive session in Delhi. The ministry has also chosen Mohd Suvez Haque, superintendent of police in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district, to brief the gathering on the innovative methods adopted by him to tackle leftwing extremism.

Home Secretary Anil Goswami, Director of Intelligence Bureau Asif Ibrahim and inspector-generals in-charge of operations in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Orissa will also attend the conference beginning on August 26. The meeting follows the July 3 killing of Amarjit Balihar, who was superintendent of police in Jharkhand's Pakur district, by suspected Maoists.

A senior home ministry official said Haque has been chosen to give a presentation at the meeting on the methods adopted by him to take on the Maoists. Haque, a 34-year-old officer of the Indian Police Service’s 2005 batch, is a qualified chemical engineer and is counted among the country’s best SPs when it comes to countering left-wing violence.

“We have asked Haque to share his experiences with the other SPs in-charge of the worst naxal-affected districts in the country so that anti-naxal operations can be heightened and better focused in their areas,” the official said.

Haque is said to have done commendable work in his district since his posting there on June 25, 2012. He has led aggressive operations against the Maoists in the jungles in Gadchiroli, resulting in the killing of several prominent Maoists.