Chhattisgarh: Shah Interacts With Security Forces Engaged In Naxal Ops; Narayanpur Visit Cancelled
Raipur, Jun 23 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday interacted with security forces' commanders and personnel, who were involved in major anti-Naxal operations in Chhattisgarh, in Nava Raipur, but his scheduled visit to Narayanpur was cancelled due to inclement weather.
Talking to reporters at the Raipur airport, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said Shah interacted with commanders of security forces and jawans, who were involved in recent anti-Naxal operations in the Bastar region, including the one in which CPI (Maoist) general secretary Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju (70) was killed last month.
The programme was titled 'Sankalp - Interaction with Force Commanders and Commandos'.
During the interaction, Shah, who was on a two-day Chhattisgarh visit, praised security personnel for their bravery and courage in fight against Maoists, the CM informed.
Earlier, the Union Home Minister was scheduled to visit a camp of security forces in Narayanpur in the Bastar region and meet personnel and local people, but the trip was cancelled due to continuous rainfall in the district, Sai stated.
The CM said Shah will travel to Uttar Pradesh to preside over a meeting of the Central Zonal Council in Varanasi on Tuesday.
The Central Zonal Council comprises four states - Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
The 25th meeting of the council will be attended by Chief Ministers of the member states along with two senior ministers from each state. It is being organized by the Inter-State Council Secretariat under the Union home ministry in collaboration with the Uttar Pradesh government.
On the first day of his latest visit to Chhattisgarh, Shah on Sunday laid foundation stones for the National Forensic Science University (NFSU) campus and a central forensic science lab in Nava Raipur Atal Nagar. He also virtually inaugurated the transit (temporary) campus of NFSU in Raipur.
On Sunday evening, he chaired two key security related meetings on Naxalism.
Firstly, he chaired an Inter-State Security Coordination meeting on Naxalism with Director Generals of Police (DGPs), Additional DGPs and senior administrative officers from seven states - Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Odisha. This was followed by a review meeting on the prevailing situation on Left-wing extremism in Chhattisgarh.
In a stern message, Shah on Sunday asserted operations against Naxalites will continue unabated during the monsoon and asked Maoists to lay down arms and join the journey of development.
Since January last year, more than 400 Maoists have been gunned down by security forces in separate encounters in the state, the most notable being the killing of their top leader Basavaraju in Bastar on May 21.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
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