The Naxal problem in Jharkhand is in its last stage with the security forces having launched a coordinated assault to wipe out the menace, said director general of police, Ajay Kumar Singh in Ranchi on Sunday (February 26).
Recently, the Naxal hotbed and training Centre in Jharkhand – Budha Pahad – on the border with Chhattisgarh, was captured by security forces, after being in the hands of the Naxals for over three decades.
Singh, a 1989-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer was appointed as the new DGP of Jharkhand earlier this month. “The Naxal problem in Jharkhand is in its last stages. Whatever remains it needs to be tackled. We have enough manpower and expertise to do it and we will be able to reduce it further”, Singh told PTI in an interview.
A total of 31 Naxalites including regional committee members, zonal, sub zonal and area commanders were gunned down in the last three years, while 1,319 were arrested including polit bureau and central committee members.
As many as 44 new forward operating bases were set up in core areas impacted by Naxalism. Singh said not only the Naxal problem but his priority would be to improve the overall law and order situation and bring about a reduction in crime in the state by taking stern action against organised crime.
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“Access of the general public to the police station…to the power machinery should be without any hassle…My effort will be that the police station should not instil fear, rather it should be seen as a support system. Its working will be improved…,” the top cop told PTI.
Moreover, there is still a need for city policing, community policing and policing with a human face.
“These are my priority areas. We can start community policing and focus should be to check crime against women, assistance to the aged…It would be my endeavour to instil confidence among the masses through community policing,” he said.
Asked about the incidents of lynching, branding women as witches and nature of crime in tribal areas, he said apart from the criminal point of view there is a social aspect also.
“There is a need to create awareness in rural areas. Side by side if there is awareness, these kinds of things can be reduced. We will take into confidence local people, village elders and other community leaders also,” the DGP emphasised.
Asked about the opium trade in the state, he said the areas under cultivation have been identified. “Action is taken every season. Action is taken against them. We take support from the central agencies also and this will be checked,” he said.
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Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren last month had visited captured Naxal hotbed and training Centre Budha Pahad that was captured by joint security forces. Joint security forces comprising CRPFs CoBRA (Commando Battalion of Resolute Action) unit, in a coordinated long operation codenamed octopus, double bull and thunderstorm had managed to free Budha Pahad in Garhwa and Latehar in Jharkhand, some 150 km from state capital Ranchi.
Until last year, the place used to shelter top Naxal commanders from Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Odisha and Maharashtra.