Naxals smuggling equipment from Delhi

As India keeps terror on the table at international forums, back home the Naxal threat seems to be growing every day.

The home minister on Wednesday said that the Naxal threat has been underestimated - on a day two people were arrested for sending communication equipment to Naxals in Jharkhand.

Fifty-year-old Praveen Sharma who has a shop in a popular electronic goods market in Delhi was arrested on Wednesday for acquiring these high tech gadgets for Naxals.

Investigations suggest Praveen Sharma was supplying walkie-talkies, radio sets, micro tape recorders and signal receivers to the Naxals in Jharkhand.

"These are all illegal equipments that he should not be kept, we are looking into how he acquired them," said Y S Dadwal, Commissioner of Police, Delhi.

The police tracked him down when they intercepted a consignment at Ranchi airport on Tuesday.

The equipment had passed the security scan but was found after a tip-off. The three people who came to collect it led the police to Naresh Sharma, a Ranchi businessman.

"These three reached there to receive the consignment on behalf of Naresh Sharma. We reached there and recovered all this. On knowing that all this had been brought by Naresh Sharma, we arrested him in Palamu," said Praveen Kumar, SSP, Ranchi.

Police sources say Naresh Sharma is a prominent builder who helped the Naxals to avoid extortion. The police have also intercepted his telephone conversations with Naxals.

Their arrests are a clear indication of just how far the Naxals have spread across the country; now the police have their work cut out to establish their entire network.