Hyderabad: Chhattisgarh, which is badly hit by Maoist insurgency, is getting isolated in fighting the insurgents as neighbouring Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are not willing to take part in combing and search operations or in providing intelligence.
The Greyhounds, the commando force renowned for controlling Maoist forces, and the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau (SIB) feel that Chhattisgarh is neglecting their alerts. In the last two months, the SIB issued a series of alerts on Maoist movements to higher officials in Chhattisgarh, but Chhattisgarh did not take the warnings seriously and a few incidents did take place.
Similarly, Andhra Pradesh Greyhounds is supporting Odisha and Chattisgarh police but, now it would explain to the Central government that strengthening of the local police is better than deploying Central forces.
An official said that the SIB has a good network and monitoring system of the movements of Maoists. "The Greyhounds is a unique force which improves informers' network in a short period. Although the Union Government sent in a battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force, it is an operation wing, not intelligence," the official said.
The Ministry of Home Affairs is holding a meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh with DGPs from 11 states affected by left wing extremists on Monday in Delhi. The AP government is expected to suggest that local forces in Chhattisgarh be strengthened to fight the extremists rather than deploying central forces or forces from other states.
Apart from the DGPs and Intelligence chiefs from the 11 states, officials from Railways, Civil Aviation, Electricity, Coal, Renewable Energy and Telecom departments will take part in the meeting.
Such a meeting is supposed to be held every quarter. The last one was in October 2016 and the next one was supposed to be in February 2017, but has got pushed back.
An official said that the MoH will concentrate on strengthening Intelligence, CRPF and Special Forces at the state level.
“The meeting will also discuss development in areas affected by extremists, new strategies, welfare and other issues. After the Sukuma incident, the MoH is serious about Left wing extremism. It will assist to all states from Telangana to Chattisgarh in combating Left terror”" the official said.
