M A I N   N E W S

Big cities on Naxal radar

New Delhi, April 4
Taking a leaf out of the methods adopted by Pakistan-based terrorists, the Maoists have plans to attack major cities and are trying to enhance their strike capabilities in the urban areas.

Central security agencies have gathered information that the Maoists have plans to strike in the cities in a big way but lack of infrastructure like hideouts for cadres, safe transport to carry arms and explosives are preventing them from doing so. "The Maoists want to strike in cities to divert the attention of the security forces which are intensifying their operations in the jungles of Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal," a senior official said.

The top leadership of the Maoists are in regular contact with their sympathisers, specially students, in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune and encouraging them to provide necessary support to the Naxal cadres. "Once they are convinced about their capabilities, they will try to strike in the cities," the official said.

Security agencies have gathered specific information that in the wake of continued operations by forces, the Maoists also trying to shift their key leaders from the hideouts of forests and put in urban centres where they could be safe and guide their cadres to launch specific attack. "But the Maoists want to be doubly sure about safety as they think that their leaders should not face the same fate like CPI (Maoist) politburo member Kobad Ghandy, who was arrested in Delhi," the official said.

As a counter to the Maoist strategy, the government has directed intelligence officials to monitor the movement and correspondence of Maoist leaders and sensitise police forces of major cities.

"We can't take the threat of the Maoists in the cities lightly. So, we are taking action for that," the official said. A total of 908 persons have lost their lives last year, the highest since 1971, in the Naxal violence and the security agencies feel that violence may go up this year and the next year. — PTI