Bhubaneswar: Terming Thursday's attack on a
passenger train in Jharkhand as a 'cowardly act', Union Home
Secretary G K Pillai on Friday said that Maoists were terrorists
and he had no sympathy for them.
"There is no difference between terrorists and Maoists.
They are making railway stations, trains, mobile towers and
schools soft targets. They also held up a train in West
Bengal. I have no sympathy for them," Pillai said after a
meeting with senior Orissa government officials here.
Stating that coordinated operations by different states
with help from the Centre could be beneficial for fighting
Maoists, he said no military action was being planned against
the extremists, but efforts were being made to restore the
civil administration.
Asked about the possibility of aerial attack on Maoists
who sheltered in forests and hilly terrains after operations,
he said "We do not need to go for aerial attack on Maoists."
Eight bogies of the Tata-Bilaspur passenger train
derailed last night after Maoists blew up railway tracks in
Jharkhand's West Singhbhum district.
On a proposal to provide a helicopter to Orissa for
anti-Maoist operations, he said the Centre had granted
Rs 5 crore for it.
Stating that most states remained under-policed, Pillai
said that the ratio should be 220 policemen for every one lakh
population.
"But there is only 120 policemen per one lakh population
which is inadequate. Then there are vacancies," he said.
On the requirement of a helicopter, Chief Secretary T
K Mishra said that the state government needed more funds for
a large one.
"The Centre had agreed to give more funds for it," Mishra
told reporters.
The state also requires more central para-military
forces, additional funds to modernise the police and central
police training institutes, he said.
PTI
First Published: Friday, November 20, 2009, 19:06