New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said though an increasing number of Naxals are surrendering, it needs to be considered if benefits are being derived from the intelligence provided by these cadres.
Addressing a meeting of chief ministers of Naxal-hit states, Singh said a large number of Naxal cadres have been killed and many others have surrendered since 2014.
He said in order to develop actionable intelligence, it is important that all intelligence agencies and security forces establish a good network with local people.
"We have to consider that although the figures of the surrenders of the left wing extremists are increasing, but whether the benefit of intelligence from these surrendered left wing extremists cadres is being derived," Singh asked.
"Surrendered left wing extremists cadre should be used for intelligence collection to the maximum possible," he said at the meeting being held two weeks after an ambush in Sukma, Chhattisgarh, in which 25 paramilitary personnel were killed.
In comparison to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, he said, the technical intelligence inputs in Bastar Zone of Chhattisgarh are very low and the reason for it is that there is only 20 per cent effective connectivity in Bastar.
It is only 4 per cent in a district like Sukma and there is a need to create special action plans through the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) to increase connectivity across the entire LWE affected area, he said.
"From the point of view of intelligence, I believe that there is a need to depute shadow intelligence officers to trace the prominent targets associated with left wing extremism," he said.
The home minister said there is a need to establish specific procedures between state police and central forces for the exchange and use of intelligence.
The home minister said there is a need to consider whether there should be a reaction only after the occurrence of any Naxal violence or "should our role not be proactive?"
"Learning from the old incidents, we need to bring aggression into our policy. Aggression in thinking, aggression in strategy, aggression in deployment of forces, aggression in operations, in development and in road construction.
"We will have to be cautious that extremely defensive deployment may result in reduction of operational offensive," he said.
Referring to the ongoing security-related assistance given to the state governments by the Centre, the home minister said under this, 118 battalions of Central Armed Police Force have been deployed in the states. Besides, states have been given the sanction for the India Reserve (IR) battalions and the State India Reserve Battalions to strengthen their security apparatus.
"10 CoBRA Battalions have been deployed, in addition, to handle this kind of left wing extremist issues. In the last few years, the Ministry of Home Affairs has assisted the states through various schemes for capacity building," he said.
Under the SRE Scheme, Singh said, reimbursement of security-related expenses such as ex-gratia, transportation, training, honorarium for special police officers etc, was done by the central government in 106 districts of 10 states.
In the financial year 2016-17, the home ministry has reimbursed Rs 210 crore, he said.
