Jogi blames intelligence failure for Naxal attack

Raipur: Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi Thursday alleged that intelligence failure and "BJP`s conspiracy" were responsible for the last week`s Naxal attack in Bastar. "The state government was well aware of the scheduled route of the Parivartan rally of Congress and in spite of that adequate security was not provided there," Jogi said today.

"Union Home Ministry had tipped off the state about the movement of Naxals in Bastar but it was not taken seriously. Had that been followed, perhaps the senior Congress leaders would have been alive today," he said. "Intelligence failure and BJP`s conspiracy were responsible for the attack," he alleged, asking why action had not been initiated yet against senior officials who were supposed to ensure security to the Congress convoy. Twenty-seven people, including state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and senior party leader Mahendra Karma, were killed in the ambush last Saturday. Jogi also questioned the secret agreement the government had struck with the Maoists for securing release of the abducted IAS officer (then Sukma collector) Alex Paul Memon last year. PTI