Government announces cash reward of Rs 1 crore on top Naxal leaders

Government has decided to announce a cash reward of Rs one crore on the head of top Naxal leaders and for informers who provide information about their whereabouts.

CRPF cheif Dilip Trivedi today said undertaking such a policy decision makes "financial prudence" as it takes crores of rupees to deploy and sustain troops in anti-Naxal operations as compared to a sum of Rs one crore for nailing down a Maoist leader.

"We had proposed hiking of reward money on top Naxal leaders to the Union Home Ministry. I am happy that the Ministry and the government have agreed to it. We had a positive meeting with the Home Secretary in this regard," Trivedi said.

The DG said it would be a good step to hike the award money more than the Rs 1 crore figure as this policy is also "financially more viable" and would bear good results for security forces undertaking operations in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected states.

"The ultimate aim of the forces and the governments is to bring peace in these areas. Once we apprehend the Naxal leaders and cadres, their violent movement will fizzle out totally," he said.