The Centre may be open to talks with Maoists provided they abjure violence but some senior police personnel in Naxal-hit regions feel it is a ruse to regroup and re-arm themselves.
Police personnel in Naxal-infested states like Jharkhand, West Bengal and Chhattigarh believe the truce offer initiated by the Naxals is insincere.
"The top brass of Maoists is controlled by People's War Group, who were actually trained by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. So, on the lines of a strategic retreat, they are buying time to re-build, equip themselves better, increase their cadres and replenish resources," an Intelligence Bureau source said.
V D Ram, former director general of police, Jharkhand, is quite critical of the truce offer. "Ceasefire talks will never be a welcome step. Naxals want to avoid encounters in the months of February, March and April when trees shed their leaves and it becomes difficult to stay hidden in the hills," he said.
"The Maoists are suffering from a financial crunch since police were able to strangulate their fund supply from businessmen operating in Jhargram in West Bengal, and parts of Bihar and Jharkhand," he added.
An Indian Police Service officer in Chhattisgarh says, "Naxals believe in the policy of overthrowing the government. They want talks because in the last seven-eight months, they were under tremendous pressure from the offensive by security forces."
Also, the Special Task Force and intelligence agencies have been successful in creating a human intelligence network, which they have used effectively for the arrest of top leaders like Telugu Deepak, he added.
"Recently Maoists pasted posters around the city, portraying bonhomie between policemen and Naxals.
It read, 'Police-Naxals bhai bhai', said Subodh Prasad, SP, Lohardaga, Jharkhand.
The response from other districts like Hazaribagh and Simdega in the state is no different.
"They want to replicate what they did in Andhra Pradesh. A ceasefire will give them time to raise fund and recruit fighters," said a senior IPS officer in Hazaribagh.
Durga Oroan, SP, Simdega, says Naxals are good at theorising but fail to act up. "They misguide unemployed youth here and provoke them to join their group and work against the state," he said.
Police chiefs of Bihar and Chhattisgarh were reluctant to comment on the issue.
"It is a political issue. No comment," said Neelamani and Vishwa Ranjan, DGPs of Bihar and Chhattisgarh, respectively.
The West Bengal police chief said the truce offer was bizarre.
"There should be pre-conditions to talks. What will happen after 72 days? Are Naxals going to surrender their arms?" DGP Bhupinder Singh said.
Police officials said this is the most appropriate time to crack the whip. "The inter-state operation of blocking their movement -- where they can't move to Jharkhand or Bihar after committing a crime in West Bengal as they used to do earlier -- have been very successful," said a police officer from West Bengal.
While top policemen took a politically correct line, ground level security personnel were willing to speak up on condition of anonymity.
"The support base among the tribal which the Maoists mainly used as their safe hideouts, is eroding fast because of pressure not only from the joint forces but also because of an internal conflict between the Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste," said a police officer in West Bengal.
"Scheduled Caste people allege that their problems are not being addressed properly as their religion, culture and rituals are not a priority for the Maoists," he added.
The Jharkhand police were wary of the fact that if talks happen, Maoists would also get time to revive their foreign connections.
"Many Naxalites here have been trained in Nepal and controlled by syndicates sitting there. In recent times, we have been successful in breaking this nexus," said a senior police official.
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