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Union
home minister Rajnath Singh and national security adviser Ajit Doval during a
meeting with chief ministers of Naxal-affected states in New Delhi. (Photo:
PTI)
New Delhi:
Virtually declaring an all-out war against the Naxalite menace, Union home
minister Rajnath Singh stressed the need for greater use of technology,
actionable intelligence, choking financial channels and adopting an aggressive
strategy to target the top Maoist leadership. Speaking at a conference of 10
Naxal-infested states here on Monday in the wake of the recent killings of CRPF
personnel, Mr Singh underlined the urgent need to set up a strategic unified
command, saying unity of purpose was needed among all affected
states.
National security adviser Ajit Doval and top security
and intelligence officials from the Centre and states also took part in the
meeting, which decided to evolve a uniform strategy to take on the Naxals.
Sending a tough message, the home minister said he was confident that with a new
strategy in place, the anti-Naxal operations will be more successful in future.
The states, he added, should play a bigger role in such operations and “take
ownership”.
The meeting, sources said, discussed how the strategy
could be recaliberated to make it more effective and to reduce casualties among
security personnel.
Choking the Naxals’ financial resources was the “most
basic mantra”, the home minister said, as resources play a major role in any
war. He also stressed the need for greater use of technology like trackers in
weapons and biometrics in smart guns, which are some of the new tech to check
the use of looted arms by the militants.
“It would be advisable to have trackers in weapons, as
well as biometrics in smart gun triggers — as a tracker can locate a looted
weapon wherever it is taken or used, while biometrics can make a smart gun
useless for anyone other than the authorised user. Trackers should also be
embedded in shoes and bulletproof jackets,” the minister added. In addition, Mr
Singh said, unique identification numbers could be used in gelatin and other
explosive materials.
Referring to use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
(UAVs), the home minister said this should be further augmented and more
such surveillance gear should be procured and given to the security forces. “We
need to use high-resolution PTZ cameras, GPS tracking, hand-held thermal
imaging, radar and satellite imaging,” he said.
On intelligence-gathering, the minister said surrendered
Naxals should be used “more effectively” to obtain information. Mr Singh also
claimed that in order to evolve actionable intelligence, it was important that
all intelligence agencies and security forces establish a good network with the
local people.
Talking about the welfare of securitymen deployed in
Naxal-affected areas, who often face fatigue and stress, the home minister said
it was important that their camps have better facilities for power, water and
mobile phone connectivity. It was imperative that the security forces follow the
laid-down Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and remain alert about their own
security.
“We have to bring aggression in our policy, there should
be aggression in our thinking, aggression in our strategy, aggression in
deployment of security forces, aggression in operations, aggression in bringing
development, aggression in road construction... We must focus on the concept of
“Samadhan” — which means S-Smart Leadership, A-Aggressive Strategy, M-Motivation
and Training, A-Actionable Intelligence, D-Dashboard Based KPIs (Key Performance
Indicators) and KRAs (Key Result Areas), H-Harnessing Technology, A-Action Plan
for Each Theatre, N-No Access to Financing,” the home minister said.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar criticised the Centre
for stopping funds for crucial schemes to fight Naxals and for refusing the
state’s request for a helicopter for quick deployment of forces in anti-Maoist
operations. Mr Kumar said the UPA government had introduced some schemes for
capacity enhancement of the security forces and to address local disparities in
LWE-affected states like Special Infrastructure Scheme, Integrated Action Plan
and Security Related Expenditure.
The Bihar CM claimed these schemes had shown good
results but since last year some were discontinued and ironically when they were
hoping the government would strengthen these schemes and enhance resources. It
was decided at the meeting that such schemes will continue. Mr Kumar suggested
changes in the Money Laundering Act to check the funding of Naxal
outfits.
Speaking at the meeting, Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh,
heading the state that is possibly the worst affected by Naxal violence,
suggested greater use of air power which could target the Naxal leadership, and
continuous work for development, among other things. It was also decided to
operationalise the airport at Jagdalpur, the nerve centre of Naxal
activities.
Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das sought more assistance from
the Centre to establish an Air Surveillance Unit in Ranchi and modernisation of
madrasas to deal with the Naxal problem. Most states demanded more helicopter
support and use of modern technology in anti-Naxal operations.
The CRPF has, meanwhile, decided to further beef up the
presence of elite CoBRA commandos in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district by deploying
2,000 more security personnel. The force has already shifted its anti-Naxal ops
command centre from Kolkata to Raipur to further strengthen its operations in
the state.
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