Govt's anti-Naxal ops should instill 'fear' in them, says Rajnath Singh

New Delhi: After a string of deadly Naxal attacks on security forces over the past few months, the government has decided to adopt an aggressive strategy to contain the Maoist violence.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh has reportedly pitched for an aggressive strategy to quell the Maoist rebels. According to PTI, Singh recommended that any anti-Naxal strategy should instill "fear" in them.

Earlier in the day, Singh chaired a high-level review meeting with the chief ministers of ten Left Wing Extremism-hit states.

The meeting was also attended by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, district magistrates and the superintendents of police of 35 of Naxal-hit districts.

Around 12,000 security personnel lost their lives in Maoist violence in the last 20 years.

“There is need to depute shadow intelligence officers to track prominent targets associated with Left Wing Extremism (LWE),” Singh said.

The Home Ministry has also reportedly prepared a “hit list" of high-value Naxal targets following the killing of 25 CRPF jawans in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district last month.

Singh had termed the attack as direct “challenge to the government” and vowed to hunt down the attackers.

Bastar divisional commander Raghu, Jagargunda area head Papa Rao and PLGA battalion commander Hidma, who is said to be behind the latest attack, are among those reportedly in the hit list.