Bastar: The Naxal attack in the Bastar district of Chhattisgarh on Saturday wiped out the top leadership of the Congress in the state. The party has decided to boycott the all-party meet called by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Thursday. A special session of the Chhattisgarh Assembly has also been called on June 3 to discuss the Naxal issue.
While the Congress has demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Raman Singh for the security lapses, the BJP has accused the Congress of politicising the issue. BJP President Rajnath Singh will be in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday to meet the family members of the victims.
Meanwhile, heads have started rolling over Saturday's bloodbath. The government on Tuesday suspended the SP of Bastar district Jagdalpur and transferred the IG and the collector of Bastar range.
SP Mayank Shrivastava has been suspended while IG Himanshu Gupta was shifted to police headquarters. Bastar Collector P Anabalagan has been shifted to the state secretariat, Secretary, Public Relations of the state government, Aman Singh said.
Shrivastava has been attached to the DGP office till further order and Gupta will now serve as IG, Crime Investigation Department (CID), Singh said, adding Anabalagan will be posted as Deputy Secretary in the secretariat. Ajay Yadav will be new SP of Bastar district, Arun Deo Gautam IG, Bastar range and Ankit Anand the Collector, Singh added. LS Ken will replace Ankit Anand as new Jashpur collector. It has also been decided by the government that Director General of Police Ramniwas will now look after the VIP security himself, assisted by an Inspector General of Police and a Deputy Inspector General of Police," Singh added.
The government has also appointed a one-man commission under HC Justice Prashant Mishra for a judicial enquiry into the attack.
The Home Ministry on Tuesday admitted to security lapses which led to the Naxal attack. However, it added that politicising the issue will not help. MoS Home RPN Singh said anti-Naxal operations will be intensified and also ruled out holding peace talks with the extremists unless they abjure violence.
Singh said Maoist barbarism and cold blooded murders have peaked in the last six months and there was an urgent need to re-look the policy dealing with the Naxals. "The Maoists have no respect for human rights. There is a need to re-look the policy dealing with the Naxals. There will be more active operations," he told reporters.
RPN Singh said when former Home Minister P Chidambaram had announced the offer of dialogue to the Maoists, they did not come forward and hence time has come to review the situation. "They are not interested in talks or following the democratic process. There will be no talks unless they abjure violence," he said.
(With additional information from PTI)
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