Demonetisations of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes have served a body blow to the Naxal terror funding in Naxals breeding ground Bastar region, a senior police officer claimed on Monday.
“Naxals are facing severe financial crunch after the Government junked Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes. They (Maoists) will not be able to use the massive banknotes extorted by them via levy or other means,” Inspector General of Police (Bastar) SRP Kalluri told reporters here.
According to Kalluri, the police is aware of the entire situation and will not allow Naxals to get out of the financial mess.
He claimed that every year Naxals collect cash running in billions through various illegal means and they bury these cash in various parts of dense jungles to fund and sponsor deadly attacks on police, civilians, arms and ammunition purchase or other items of daily use.
“The Naxals now will not be able to exchange the currency notes from banks. Police is also keeping a tab on movement of vehicles coming in and going out from Naxal hinterland of Bastar and it is sure that in coming up days, leftist militants will get financially crippled,” the IGP claimed.
Meanwhile, in a separate development, police organised a meeting of businessmen at insurgency-hit Dornapal block and instructed them not to provide any kind of support to Naxals in exchanging of currency notes.
Police have also informed businessmen that strict action would be taken against persons who are found helping Naxals in exchanging of currency notes. It was always conveyed to the businessmen that all kinds of transactions were under watch and any kind of illegal transaction could brew trouble for the persons involved.