Chief Minister Raghubar Das has claimed that there has been a significant decline in Naxal incidents in Jharkhand during the last 2-3 years. Das, while speaking at a meeting in New Delhi called by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to review Naxal problem in left-Wing Extremism (lWE)-affected districts of ten States, also stressed on the establishment of Enforcement Directorate in Ranchi to deal with the menace.
"Due to effective and meaningful campaign carried out against the Maoists, there has been a considerable decline in their base in the State. The average annual rate of Naxal incidents in the State has decreased up to around 200 which earlier happened to be around 400 during 2001-14," stated the Chief Minister. The policies adopted by the State Government have proved to be quite successful to bring down the Naxal incidents in Jharkhand, he added.
The Chief Minister also demanded establishment of an Enforcement Directorate office in Ranchi for making it easier for the police to seize huge properties accumulated by top Maoist leaders. Das also stressed on the need for better coordination with the neighbouring States to deal with the menace.
Chief Ministers of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh were also present at the meeting along with administrative and police heads of the Naxal-infested districts of these States.
Das further added that the attractive surrender policy has also gained a better support in the State which has helped the State Government further in bringing several hardcore Maoists back to the mainstream.
"Only 70 Maoists had surrendered from 2001 to 2014, while 65 rebels have already surrendered since 2015 till date," the CM said. Due to intensive anti-Naxal operations being carried out all over the State, 458 and 64 Maoists were arrested in the year 2015 and 2016, respectively, while huge cache of arms and ammunitions have also been recovered from them, including the arms which were earlier looted from the security forces, he added.
Huge amount of levy has also been recovered from them in the last two and a half years as compared to annual recovery of Rs 28 lakh in the last 14 years, said the CM.
"Several parts, including Hazaribagh, Bokaro, rural areas of Ranchi, Jamshedpur, northern parts of latehar and Garhwa have completely been freed from Naxals after setting up of new police stations and police pickets in these areas," claimed the CM. "A positive impact of an integrated development work plan being carried out keeping Naxal eradication in mind, has also been observed in the 11 areas," he added.
The CM added that an effective surrender and rehabilitation policy has also been framed by the State Government and a screening committee has been formed headed by SP at the district level due to which 81 Maoists have surrendered before the police in the last two years. The reward policy has also been made quite attractive in 2016 making comprehensive changes in it and increasing the maximum limit of reward amount up to Rs 1 crore.
"Meanwhile, emphasis is also being given on speedy disposal of pending cases against arrested Maoists to check them from returning to their organizations," stated the CM.
The Chief Minister during the meeting also placed some demands to carry out anti-Naxal campaign in the State which includes Air Surveillance Unit in Ranchi, basic
infrastructure for Special Forces in the State under SIS programme and waiving off of the amount demanded by the Centre against the deployment of paramilitary forces in the State for carrying out anti-Naxal operations considering the financial condition of the State. (See also Page 5)