This Article is From Jun 11, 2010

No use of Army against Maoists: Sources

New Delhi: Sources have told NDTV that the Army will not be directly used for anti-Maoists operations and that their involvement will be limited to training central paramilitary forces.

More special police officers will be recruited for operations against the Maoists and the induction to central forces will be increased several fold, the sources added.

They also said that the Ministry of Home Affairs will focus on strengthening the state police now.

On Thursday evening, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), which met to decide on the role of the Army in the battle against Maoists, had ended in a stalemate.

The meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, debated the issue of deployment of Army in Left-wing extremists-affected areas and use of more IAF helicopters for logistics support to the paramilitary engaged in the operations against Maoists.

Several differences had cropped up between Defence Minister AK Antony and Home Minister P Chidambaram on the way the Army can be utilised.

There were differences on the issue of aerial support, sources say. While the Defence Ministry has offered no comment on the demand for the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), it has turned down the request for Air Force helicopters to ferry troops and other help. The Defence Ministry says this would amount to the Air Force getting directly involved. A key concern is what if the Maoists fired at the aircraft? The Air Force would be forced to fire back, which is not acceptable.
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