Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde today condemned last Saturday”s Maoist attack on the Congress leaders, and said that this was brutal, barbaric and inhuman in nature. “This is an attack on our democracy. I had led the delegation to U.S at the invitation of homeland security from 19 to 23 and from 23 the delegation came back to Mumbai. I had attained prior permission to step beyond 23, because I had a discussion with Dr. Bresler who is internationally famous for eye treatment and he had given me an appointment on 28th,” said Shinde. “Till 27 he was in Malaysia so he checked me on 27th. There were three days of holiday in U.S as soon as I saw the doctor, sought his advice and returned to India today,” he added. An all-party meeting convened by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr. Raman Singh on the Maoist issue in Raipur earlier in the day urged the Central Government to come out with a work plan, and called for better coordination to tackle the threat. The meeting, which was attended by leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Left Parties, concluded that the Maoist issue is a national problem and not specific to a particular state. Heavily-armed Maoists had on Saturday ambushed a convoy of Congress leaders in the state”s Bastar district, killing 27 people including PCC chief Nand Kumar Patel, his son Dinesh, Congress leader Mahendra Karma and ex-MLA Uday Mudliyar and injuring 37 others. Former Union Minister V.C. Shukla injured in the attack is being treated at a Medanta hospital in Gurgaon. His condition is stated to be critical. (ANI)
