It's official now: Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba had links with Naxalites, the radical Leftwing extremists whos pose the biggest threat to internal security.
If the intelligence inputs received by the Chhattisgarh police are to be believed, two operatives of LeT one of the world's deadliest terror outfits had reportedly attended a top-level meeting of Naxal leaders a few months ago.
The two operatives had come to attend the meeting of the Central Committee (CC) of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), the Naxalite outfit active in parts of India. The Central Committee is the supreme decision and policy making body of the Naxals.
"The two LeT operatives had reportedly attended the meeting as observers at a forested location inside Orissa, close to Chhattisgarh's Bastar region," Director General of Police Vishwa Ranjan said.
The inputs that intelligence wings had received were based on a single source that needs to be cross-checked with multiple sources, he added.
The meeting was held sometime during this summer. Ranjan said the identity of the two LeT operatives and other details could not be obtained. The intelligence agencies were exploring the motives behind the LeT operatives attending Naxalites' meeting in India.
A senior intelligence wing official told Business Standard there had been a practice in the Naxalites' functioning to invite foreign observers in the top policy-making meetings. "But mostly, the observers associated with the Left radical groups across the world were invited and this time, it was LeT operatives," the official added.
The meeting was reportedly held in the Tulsi Dongri area of Malkangiri district in Orissa. The area adjoins the Orissa-Chhattisgarh border and the Naxalites are reportedly developing it as their new base to shift their "headquarters" from Abujhmand in Chhattisgarh following the ongoing security operations against them.
