Andhra Pradesh   

Naxal menace: military assistance may be sought

Staff Reporter

Jana Reddy extends offer to resume talks with Maoists

VISAKHAPATNAM: Even while extending the olive branch of resuming talks with outlawed Maoists, Andhra Pradesh Home Minister K. Jana Reddy on Tuesday said that, if necessary, military assistance would be taken to tackle the Maoist menace in the State.

He made this remark while speaking to reporters after inaugurating a new building of the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory (RFSL) here.

Coming as it does in the wake of renewed extremist attacks at Sileru on Andhra Pradesh-Orissa border on Saturday and Sunday when Maoists fired the police station with some rocket-launchers, made by them and a few secured from somewhere, the remark is significant.

``The attack was successfully countered by the police,'' Mr. Reddy maintained, and said that concerted efforts with the assistance of everyone involved, including the Union Government, would be taken to deal with the naxalite issue.

Police stations would be strengthened to counter Maoist attacks, the Home Minister asserted.

He was answering questions on the changing tactics of naxalites, and their targeting Railway Protection Force personnel at Kuneru in Vizianagarm district.

Four RPF personnel were killed and Rs.12 lakhs taken away from a passenger train on Sunday.

No intelligence failure

``People are resenting violent activities indulged in by the Maoists for money. It (the naxalite activity) concerns everybody. They have killed Madhava Reddy (TDP Government's Home Minister), former Speaker Sripada Rao and MLA Narsi Reddy, among others. All of us have to be concerned about such activities, and more coordinated efforts would have to be made to deal with such situations. Strategies will be worked out, involving RPF also '' he said.

Denying that there was any intelligence failure, Mr. Jana Reddy said that whenever such attacks were carried out, the issue of intelligence failure was raised. On the Maoists' attack on the Genco station at Sileru citing tribals not getting power from it, the Minister asserted that it was a mere pretext."Had the RPF men been more alert, they would have got the better of the Maoists [at Kuneru]", Director-General of Police Swaranjit Sen said.

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