Maoists talk peace but continue with violence: HM

Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said that the Communist Party of India-Maoist's offer of talks was 'bizarre' as there had been no let down in the violence unleashed by the banned outfit.

Addressing media persons in New Delhi, Chidambaram said: "It was a somewhat bizarre offer. That is because, barely 3 hours after the so-called offer, the CPI (Maoist) attacked a joint patrol party of the West Bengal police and the CRPF in PS Lalgarh, district West Midnapore. The patrol party retaliated and three people were killed."  

"In the 7 days since then, there have been 18 significant acts of violence in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal. These include landmine blasts, killing of civilians alleged to be police informers, attack on police parties, ambushing of trucks and other vehicles, and blasting of school buildings," he added.

Reiterating that the government was willing to sit across the table for unconditional talks, the home minister said: "Many weeks ago, I had offered to facilitate talks with the CPI (Maoist) provided they abjured violence. There was no meaningful response to that offer. Nevertheless, on February 23, I responded that if the CPI (Maoist) made a short, simple and unconditional statement that they would abjure violence, the government would be prepared to hold talks with them. I have received no response to my statement."