Don’t divert men to fight Naxals,says Army top brass

According to sources,all the Army Commanders were against dilution of the counter-insurgency grid in Jammu and Kashmir,so that troops could be moved for possible anti-Naxal operations.

The meeting was summoned after credible intelligence reports two months ago that the ISI was interested in penetrating the core Naxal movement in order to draw the Indian Army into the internal security quagmire.

These reports also indicated that the Maoists in Nepal had trained 60-70 Indian Naxals last year,with private Chinese companies being sounded out for arms.

The Army Commanders were of the view that paramilitary forces should be made more combat capable to handle the Maoists through better training. The top brass felt that the Army was already stretched in J&K,where the situation was still sensitive.

Maoists kill 2 cops,2 villagers in Orissa

Maoists killed two policemen and two villagers in two separate incidents on Thursday. Constable Bala Takri and Home Guard Binod Hantal of Machhkund police station were shot in Koraput district. In another incident in Rayagada district,rebels axed two villagers,accusing them of spying for the police. Three of the five persons abducted by Maoists in Malkangiri district on Tuesday,meanwhile,returned to their villages.