[url="http://www.hindustantimes.com/26-CRPF-men-killed-in-Maoist-attack-in-Chhattisgarh/H1-Article1-564984.aspx"] 26 CRPF men killed in Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh[/url] Quote:In yet another deadly attack, at least 26 CRPF personnel were on Tuesday gunned down in a Naxal ambush in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh.
The Maoists opened fire from a hilltop when the paramilitary men were returning from road opening duty on foot, CRPF Chief Vikram Srivastava said in New Delhi
Quote:Maoists call for bandh, Azad cremated
PTI | Hyderabad/Kolkata/Raipur
pioneer.com
Rattled by the killing of its top leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad, the banned CPI (Maoist) on Sunday called for a two-day strike from July 7 and vowed to avenge his death, prompting authorities to beef up security in Naxal-hit areas.
The body of Azad, a senior member of the CPI (Maoist) Central Committee who was killed in an encounter in Adilabad district on Friday, was today cremated at Punjagutta crematorium in Hyderabad in the presence of his family members and a large number of people including Maoist sympathisers and revolutionary poets- Varavara Rao and Kalyan Rao.
In a statement, the the CPI (Maoist) alleged that Azad was "murdered" by intelligence agencies of the Centre and Andhra Pradesh government.
Hailing Azad, who was the Maoist spokesman, it said he has become the "mind and soul of Indian revolution through his consistent and efficient work" and vowed to avenge his death.
Stating that it was apparent that the Centre does not want talks, Maoist leader Kishenji, who has been active in West Bengal, called for a 48-hour 'Bharat Bandh' from July 7 to protest against the killing.
Kishenji alleged that Azad was arrested in Nagpur along with another Maoist Sukdeb and taken 150 km to Adilabad where both were shot dead.
Apprehending Maoist backlash, authorities in Chhattisgarh, which has been facing the brunt of Maoist violence, have sounded an alert in the state.
Police have been asked to tighten vigil as the Maoists may carry out a major strike in retaliation against the killing of Azad, top officials said in Raipur.
Nearly 200 people, including security personnel have died in naxal attacks in Chhattisgarh in the last three months.
Kishenji said from an undisclosed location that Azad, who was in his 50's, had been proceeding to Dandakaranya for a meeting of the CPI (Maoist) central committee when he was caught by the police.
He claimed that the committee was to discuss developments in the context of Union Home Minister [color="#FF0000"]P Chidambaram's recent communication to social activist Swami Agnivesh on talks with Maoists.[/color]
Criticising the central and Andra Pradesh leaderships, Kishenji said, "It's apparent that the Centre does not want talks because it is speaking of dialogue and yet killing our members."
Referring to the chief ministers' meet convened on July 24 to decide on whether to use the Indian Air Force (IAF) for anti-Maoist operations, Kishenji said the IAF should not be used against poor people.
"You are Indian citizens, you should not use your guns on the poor," he said in an appeal to the IAF.
Azad, who carried a reward of Rs 12 lakh on his head, was allegedly involved in attempts on the lives of two former Andhra Pradesh chief ministers N Chandrababu Naidu and N Janardhan Reddy.
So Agnivesh, another Commie is involved in chit-chat.
New Delhi The IAF has got the government's permission to fire back at Naxals in extremist-hit areas in self-defence, highly-placed Air Force sources said on Thursday. http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/...ssindia%29
The government's nod to the IAF's request made in September last year comes at a time when a debate is raging on whether India should use its armed forces against left-wing extremists, whom Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described as the gravest internal security threat.
[url="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/IAF-gets-permission-to-fire-at-Naxals-in-self-defence/articleshow/6300253.cms"]IAF gets permission to fire at Naxals in self-defence[/url]
Quote:PTI, Aug 12, 2010, NEW DELHI: The [url="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=IAF"]IAF[/url] has got the government's permission to fire back at [url="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=Naxals"]Naxals[/url] in extremist-hit areas in self-defence, highly-placed [url="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=Air%20Force"]Air Force[/url] sources said on Thursday.
The government's nod to the IAF's request made in September last year comes at a time when a debate is raging on whether [url="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/India"]India[/url] should use its armed forces against left-wing extremists, whom Prime Minister[url="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Manmohan-Singh"]Manmohan Singh[/url] has described as the gravest internal security threat.
The IAF currently deploys two of its Mi-17s and two Dhruv helicopters in anti-Naxal operations. It had lost one of its personnel when a helicopter ferrying election officials and material during the Chattisgarh assembly polls was fired at by suspected Naxals a couple of years ago.
The government had given permission to the IAF to defend itself from the extremists' fire and had laid out conditions on the use of small arms in self-defence sometime in October-November last year.
Consequently, the IAF has fitted sideward-mounted machine guns on its helicopters flying in Naxal-affected areas basically for logistics, personnel transport and casualty evacuation of paramilitary forces engaged in fighting the Maoists, the sources said.
These guns would be operated by IAF commandos belonging to Garud units, who would be on board the helicopters every time they go out on sorties, the sources said.
Defence minister[url="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=A%20K%20Antony"]A K Antony[/url] had told Parliament in November last year that though no offensive military action had been envisaged while using the IAF helicopters in anti-Naxal operations, there was no specific approval required for action in self-defence.
However, the IAF has proposed a draft 'Rules of Engagement' to regulate such action, in order to avoid any ambiguity and damage to the helicopters or injury to their occupants, he had said replying to members' questions.
Among the conditions laid out were that no indiscriminate firing should be carried out and that the Garuds should be sure of the source of the attack on the helicopters before retaliatory fire was unleashed.
These guidelines were issued to ensure there were no civilian causalities in case the IAF used its guns in self-defence, the defence ministry had explained then.
"The IAF helicopter crew will not use the conventional heavy fire power weapons such as rockets and other guns on board, but only the sideward-mounted machine guns. They will use the weapons only if fired upon," the sources said.
"Fortunately, in these months that we have been allowed to defend our assets, there has been no occasion when we had to use the sideward-mounted guns," they said.
The IAF, the sources said, had obtained the government's approval recently to withdraw 17 of its Mi-17 helicopters that are currently in operation with various UN missions.
Once the number of its helicopters increased, it could think of sparing more choppers for the paramilitary forces that were combating the Maoists after assessing the situation, the sources said.
They said for the use of its helicopters in Maoist-hit areas, the IAF had asked the [url="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=state%20police"]state police[/url] and the paramilitary to take a number of precautions such as sanitising the helipad areas.
"If the Naxals have rockets, as it is being suggested, the security forces would sanitise the area up to the range of these rockets, be it 600 metres or more, from the helipads," the sources said.
Admitting that the IAF had imposed an 80-hour per month per helicopter limit for flying, they said it had, in fact, done more hour-sorties in the last four months than the prescribed limit.
The helicopters had done an average of 169 hours in April, 91 hours in May, 118 hours in June and 89 hours in July this year, they said, denying media reports that the IAF had refused to fly in the Naxal-affected regions during certain operations recently.
They said the time limit was set as per IAF's norms for all its helicopters, keeping in mind the maintenance and repairs required for these machines after they had flown for a specified number of hours.
It was also to have a certain number of platforms available for operations at any given time.
"In case of a crisis, like the Leh cloudburst, there is no question of IAF helicopters being denied, so let's not get into a blame game," the sources said.
On the question of paramilitary forces wanting a separate air wing for themselves, the sources said the issue of operating an aircraft or a helicopter fleet was "complicated and not simplistic" as it sounded.
They said an air fleet required a large supply chain for spares, support systems and other logistics, which was not an easy task.
"Some state governments bought helicopters but found it difficult to operate them due to the lack of support systems," they said.
[url="http://in.news.yahoo.com/orissa-legislator-killed-maoist-hit-district-115216638.html"]Orissa legislator killed in Maoist-hit district[/url]
Quote:Bhubaneswar, Sep 24 (IANS) Orissa's ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) legislator Jagabandhu Majhi and his personal security officer were Saturday shot dead by unidentified men in the state's Maoist-hit Nabrangpur district, police said.
The 39-year-old Umarkot legislator was distributing land ownership papers to poor tribal residents at a public function at Gona village in the district, over 500 km from here.
The popular tribal leader was disabled and confined to a wheel chair after he was injured when fired at by some unidentified assailants several years ago. Police did not rule out the hand of Maoists in the latest attack.
'Three people came on a motorcycle and opened fire at the legislator. We are examining all angles,' District Superintendent of Police Nitin Sekhar told IANS. Pinku Patra, the security officer, was also killed.
More than half of the state's 30 districts are Maoist affected. The guerrillas are steadily entering the Nabrangpur district.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik condemned the killing and said he was deeply shocked. 'I am deeply shocked. He (Majhi) used to move around in a wheel chair,' Patnaik told reporters.
He said the crime branch wing of the state police department has been ordered to investigate.
The Chief Minister of West bengal while addressing a public meeting at Jhargram ( Naxal affected area in Midnapore Dist of West Bengal) has issued a warning to the Maoists to lay down arms within the next 7 days. This is in sharp contrast to her earlier soft attitude towards the Maoists. The sudden change in attitude has been attributed to her coming to power in West Bengal by the Maoists.
In a week's time if Ms. Banerjee decides to take strict police action with the help of the Para Military Forces already stationed in the area,it is unlikely that the situation will change to any great extent.The need of the hour is to win back the support of the common peopleso that the Maoists loose popular support.Given the years of neglect of the areas affected by the Maoist movement, coupled with poverty,lack of health and educational facility etc have turned the ordinary people in the area against the Government. This is irrespective of which political party or combination is in power.
In such a situation there cann be no military solution to the problem.Acclerated economic and social development of the affected areas in combination with massive police action is necessary. However, before the police action can be started, it will be necessary for the State apparatus to strengthen its intelligence gathering network.
[url="http://www.newkerala.com/news/2011/worldnews-90123.html"]Explosives found, blast averted in Kandhamal[/url]
Quote:Bhubaneswar, Oct 19 : With the seizure of a huge quantity of explosives from a forested area, police in Orissa Wednesday claimed to have averted a blast bid by Maoists in the communally sensitive Kandhamal district.
Police late Tuesday found nearly 100 kg landmines from four containers planted on a prominent road near Godibali village under Daringbadi police station, district superintendent of police J.N. Pankaj told IANS.
The explosives which were found during a combing operation by police, paramilitary forces and the anti-Maoist Special Operations Group (SOG) in the state had the capability to blow up a big truck or bus, he said.
The landmines were found days after local Maoist leader Jagannath Nayak told police that a group of 150 rebels have planned to attack at least two police stations and a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp Thursday, police claim.
The 45-year-old rebel who claimed to be the secretary of a local unit of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) was arrested last week from the district's Daringbadi area.
He disclosed that the guerrillas, who have infiltrated into the district from Bihar and Jharkhand in recent months, were preparing to attack the police stations at Brahmani Gaon and Daringbadi, and a CRPF camp at Paniganda village, Deputy Superintendent of Police G.C. Behera told IANS.
Maoist presence in the district, about 200 km from here, came to the fore when they shot dead Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his aides in his ashram at Jaleshpeta Aug 23, 2008.
The region witnessed communal violence after local mobs blamed Christians for the killing and attacked their houses. At least 38 people were killed in the riots that lasted for more than a month.
[url="http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/india-orders-deportation-10-french-nationals-16192430"] India to Deport 10 French Working for Local NGO[/url] Quote:The French nationals violated their tourist visas by working for Ekta Parishad, or Unity Forum, a group in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, said police Deputy Inspector General Paras Nath.
The 10 people ââ¬â four men and six women ââ¬â were detained Saturday in a densely forested area of Bihar where Ekta Parishad had organized a meeting of local farmers.
Police said Ekta Parishad supports the cause of Maoist rebels. The group says it works to protect the land and water rights of the poor but denies it has ties to the rebels, who have kidnapped several officials and killed dozens of security personnel in recent years.
The recent abductions of an MLA in Odisa and an IAS officer in Chatisgarh clearly indicates that the situation has not improved in the Naxal infected areas.
Over the years , several development packages have been announced for the socio-economic development of the Naxal affected areas. However, it appears that these measures have not yet yielded the desired result despite claim of success by various agencies.
The socio economic development of the Naxal affected areas is the only way out to contain the situation. There is no military solution to the problem. A few success by the security forces is not going to bring any change in the overall situation. Therefore, a serious effort needs to be undertaken to ensure the speedy implementation of the various developmental programs that have been announced from time to time. In fact, the actual implementation needs to be more closely monitored to ensure that there is no misuse of the funds.
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