The country’s Red zone may have fallen prey to heightened Maoist violence of late, but Jharkhand, also a part of it, has a dubious distinction. The State has scored a major victory this year in bringing down Naxal-related lawlessness, only for it to be replaced by violence caused by splinter groups.
latest official figures say the State saw 181 Naxal during January-May 2013, against 191 during the same period the previous year. The State police have also been successful in nabbing 294 dreaded ultras through 185 special operations. This figure was 160 in 2011 and 211 in 2012.
Nonetheless, splinter groups such as PlFI and TSPC have been wreaking havoc. “We have been able to control Maoist violence but incidents caused by breakaway factions have gone up. The police are conducting special operations,” said State DGP Rajeev Kumar. Between January and May, 30 PlFI and 40 TSPC cadre have been arrested.
The DGP and Chief Secretary RS Sharma vehemently denied the controversial suspicion that the police were backing splinter groups against the Maoists. “We are not involved in any way (in pitching splinter groups against Naxal cadre). That may be the result of their infighting. We are just concentrating on improving the security scenario,” said Sharma at a Press conference on Thursday.
The Chief Secretary, though, admitted that left-wing extremism was a huge crack in the State’s armour. “There is no denying that Maoist violence is a major problem for us and it has caused severe damage. Development has taken a beating,” he said.
“We have directed the administrative and police not to leave their posts at any cost by citing Naxal issues. The matter cannot be sorted out by abdication,” Sharma added.
The Chief Secretary emphasised faster conviction in Naxal-related cases and improving the intelligence system to deal with the problem. He said Jharkhand’s elite force, Jaguars, would be prepared on lines of the Greyhounds of Andhra Pradesh.
“We will replicate the Greyhounds model. Their training will be modernised. The system for their deployment, incentives and postings will be made rewarding. I believe we can overcome the problem,” Sharma stressed.