Raman Singh discusses anti-Naxal strategies

A day after 26 CRPF personnel were killed in a Naxal ambush in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district, chief minister Raman Singh today called an emergency meeting to discuss anti-naxal strategies.

The meeting, apart from reviewing yesterday's deadly attack, discussed strategies to modernise police forces and equip them with better tools to fight the outlaws, state officials said.

The meeting, which lasted for an hour and a half, was attended by Union home ministry and senior state officials including state home minister Nanki Ram Kanwar, chief secretary P J Ummain, State DGP Vishwaranjan, CRPF chief Vikram Shrivastav, and senior Union home ministry official BM Nair.

Additional director general of police Ramnivas said Chhattisgarh police and paramilitary forces were jointly tackling the Naxal menace in the state.

He said that around 15 Naxalites were possibly killed when security personnel retaliated yesterday during the attack, as blood marks and signs of bodies being dragged were seen on the massacre site.

A large number of heavily-armed Maoists, perched on a hilltop, had opened fire with automatic weapons on a 63-member
security contingent which was returning on foot from road
opening duty yesterday killing 26 CRPF personnel and injuring
eight others.