It's now official that terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) had links with the Naxalites, the left radical extremists posing as the biggest internal security threats in the country.
According to the intelligence inputs received by the Chhattisgarh Police, two operatives of the LeT had reportedly attended a meeting of Naxalites leaders a few months ago.
The two operatives had come to attend the meeting of the Central Committee (CC) of Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist). The Central Committee is the supreme decision and policy making body of the red army.
They had reportedly attended meeting as observers at a forested location in Orissa close to Chhattisgarh's Bastar region, state's director general of police Vishwa Ranjan said. The inputs that intelligence wings were based on a single source that need to be cross-checked with multiple sources, he added.
The meeting was held sometime during the summer. Ranjan said the identity of the two LeT operatives and other details could not be obtained.
The Intelligence agencies were exploring the motives behind the LeT operatives attending Naxalite meeting in India.
A senior Intelligence wing official told Business Standard that there had been a practice among Naxalites to invite foreign observers in the top policy-making meetings. But mostly the observers associated with the Left radical groups across the world were invited and this time, it was LeT operatives, the official added.
The meeting was reportedly held in Tulsi Dongri area of Malkangiri district in Orissa.
The area adjoins the border with Chhattisgarh and the Naxalites are reportedly developing it as their new base to shift their headquarters from Abujhmand in Chhattisgarh due to ongoing operations of security forces against them.
