Centre alerts states on Naxal's planned Congress

New Delhi: The Centre has directed all Naxal-affected states to tighten security and closely monitor the activities of the red rebels as CPI (Maoist) is planning to hold its party Congress next month after a gap of five years. Intelligence agencies suggested that all senior leaders will attend the meeting of the highest policy making body of the CPI(Maoist) which is likely to be held in a dense forest in Jharkhand, an official said.[caption id=“attachment_176892” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Keeping a vigil. Reuters”]  [/caption] The Naxal outfit is likely to reconstitute its Politburo and Central Committee during the meeting as several of its top leaders have either killed or arrested by the security forces. At present, out of 14 of its Politburo members, seven are in jail including Kobad Ghandy, Amitabh Bagchi and Pramod Mishra. Those still at large include CPI(Maoist) general secretary Ganpati alias Mupalla Laxman Rao, Keshav alias Keshav Rao. Two others—Kishenji alias Koteshvar Rao and Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad—were killed by the security forces. Of the 37 central committee members, 23 are now lodged in different jails across the country. “We expect that all senior leaders will travel from their respective hideouts and go to attend the party Congress. That’s why we have asked the states to intensify vigil to nab them,” a source said. The meeting may finalise the CPI(Maoist) future course of action and give directions to the followers in the wake of set backs it suffered in recent past and intensified operations by the security forces. Naxal violence has been reported in areas falling under 270 police stations in 64 districts in eight states. PTI