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Naxalites mixed up with ISI, says government

Josy Joseph in New Delhi

The Union government possesses reports showing links between Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and various Naxalite organisations in India, Union Home Secretary Kamal Pandey said today, though he also admitted that there is no clinching evidence to that effect.

Speaking to reporters after a high-level meeting to review the Naxalite menace, Pandey said "there are reports, but we have no evidence" that the ISI has links with the Naxalite movements in various parts of India, especially the groups spreading terror in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Maharashtra.

He said specific reports show links between the ISI and the Maoist Communist Centre of Bihar and the Communist Party of India, Marxist-Leninist People's War, popularly known as the PWG, of Andhra Pradesh.

Pointing out that the porous India-Nepal border is a major infiltration and assistance point, Pandey said the government is trying to seal the border, and is in touch with the Government of Nepal on this matter.

In the afternoon, he chaired a meeting of the co-ordination centre of the Union home ministry, which reviews the Naxalite menace at the national level. Representatives of the Maharashtra, Orissa, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh governments attended the meeting. Special Secretary (internal security) M B Kaushal was also there.

The meeting drew up an action plan to tackle Naxalite attacks, especially in the light of the recent attacks in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. The Centre pledged to give more funds to the states to acquire better weapons and provide specialised training to police personnel.

The Centre also agreed to raise a battalion each of an Indian Reserve Police Force in the five states to tackle the extremists. Under the rules, the Union government provides the money needed for raising the battalions, but the states have to provide for the salaries and other payments.

The meeting also decided to carry out aerial surveillance in the areas concerned, but the final action plan on this count is yet to be finalised as unmanned aerial vehicles are believed to be not very effective in these areas. The Union government is also providing radio interception equipment to the state police forces, because outfits such as the MCC are making wide use of radio links for co-ordination.

A high-level inter-state joint group at inspector-general of police level is also being set up for faster inter-state movement of police teams while chasing individual culprits or Naxalite gangs.

Home Secretary Pandey said the government has instructed the Intelligence Bureau and state intelligence agencies to carry out stricter vigilance, especially in the Northeast. He said the IB has already busted several ISI modules and a large number of ISI agents are being rounded up.

RELATED REPORT:
5 ISI agents arrested in Delhi

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