 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram suggested to the Chhattisgarh government that "relocation and reconfiguration" of para-military forces in the state may be required as some of them were not operationally viable.
He also condoled the killing of 27 security personnel in Narayanpur district on Tuesday.
On the deployment of forces, the home minister said, "These deployments have been made in 2007 and 2008. So, I have asked Chhattisgarh government to examine the deployments in 2010."
"There may be a need for relocation and reconfiguration of para-military forces in the state," he said.
As of now there are 14 Battalions of the Central Reserve Police Force in the state, besides the Border Security Force and the Indo Tibetan Border Police.
To a question whether the killing of CRPF personnel was due to violation of standard operating procedures, the minister said he would wait for the report by the CRPF chief, who is on the spot to conduct a preliminary inquiry.
Chidambaram said the Communist Party of India (Maoist) continued to commit acts of violence and other depredations in pursuance of their declared "armed liberation struggle".
He said in the month of June, 56 civilians and 35 security forces were killed in 145 incidents.
"Thirty-two of those killed were labelled as informers by the Naxalites. Eighteen Naxalites were killed in police action, 163 Naxalites were apprehended or arrested and 81 IEDs were recovered. Further, two Naxalites surrendered to the police," he said.