"The Maoists are trying to set up bases in Assam. This encounter would certainly halt their operations and hamper their activities in a big way," Union Home Secretary R K Singh told reporters here.
Singh was reacting to the reports of killing of four Naxals in their first-ever encounter with Assam police in the state's Tinsukia district today.
"This is a good job done by the Assam Police," he said.
Addressing the Chief Ministers' conference on internal security on April 16, Home Minister P Chidambaram had said Assam emerged as the new theatre of Maoist activity and there were also inputs about links of CPI (Maoist) with insurgent groups in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.