New Delhi, May 18: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday has called for a high level meeting to review the government’s strategy to deal with Maoist menace, a day after Maoists blew up a private bus in Dantewada district in Chattisgarh.
Read:50 feared dead in Maoist attack
Preliminiary reports had suggested the death of at least 30 people, but Special DG, V Raman told private news channel, “I fear at least 50 dead, we are checking.”
Nanki Ram Kanwar, home minister has condemned the attack saying that the Maoist have become desperate.
Congress Party spokesperson, Manish Tiwari, also condemned the attacks calling them barbaric.
Information is sketchy as the topography of region, settled in deep Naxal-infested locales, limits the accessibility of resources and information.
The dense forests also raise chances of subsequent attacks and the nightfall makes the rescue operations very difficult.
The attack, which again used Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), similar to the one used in the April 8 attack which killed 8 CRPF jawans, within a gap of a little over a month when 76 policemen were killed in an ambush by the Maoists.
A meeting of Ministry of Home Affairs was called in Delhi. The Ministry has condemned the attack and confirmed that most of casualty was that of civilians.
Home Secretary, G K Pillai said that at least 7 security personnel were admitted to a local hospital in a critical condition but the exact number of casualties was yet to be ascertained.
The frequency and the nature of the attacks yet again raise questions about the effectiveness of the counter-measures put into place to fight the Naxal violence.
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said he has limited mandate to act against the rebels.
“I have asked for more mandate to the Prime Minister,” he told reporters, adding that there is a need to revisit the tactical operations against the Maoists.
“Naxals do not discriminate, they only kill,” he told the channel referring to the attack on a soft civilian target this time.
He said the civil society has to answer for the killings. “The wanton killing leaves me pained,” he said.
—Agencies