Naxals have power to carry out spectacular attacks: Shinde

Security agencies have a lot of ground to cover in neutralising the armed capability of Naxals who have the power to carry out spectacular attacks against soft targets, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said today.

"The CPI-Maoist has the capacity to launch spectacular strikes in its stronghold areas (like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha), especially against soft targets," he told the Consultative Committee of Members of Parliament attached to the Ministry of Home Affairs here.

The minister said security agencies have a lot of ground to cover in neutralising the armed capability of CPI-Maoist.

"The role of the central armed police forces is of great importance in this regard since 90 battalions (around 90,000 personnel) have been deployed for anti-Naxal operations," he said.

The members discussed the Maoist ideology of armed struggle and militarisation, violence profile, government policy and approach to deal with Naxalism, monitoring mechanism, security and development related measures taken by the central government.

Addressing the members, Shinde said the government has adopted multi-pronged strategy in partnership with the states affected by the menace through different interventions in the areas related to security, development, rights and entitlement and improvement in governance.

He said the government has taken a number of steps to improve the capacity building of the state police forces through various schemes such as Security Related Expenditure (SRE), Special Infrastructure Scheme (SIS), Fortified Police Station Scheme, Civic Action Programme, setting up of Counter Insurgency and Anti Terrorism (CIAT) schools and raising India Reserve Battalions (IRBs).