Rajnath chairs meet on Kashmir, Maoists

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh chaired a high-level meeting on Monday to review the situation in Jammu and Kashmir as well as Maoist-affected areas following the killing of 25 CRPF troopers in Chhattisgarh.

The meeting was attended among others by Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, Intelligence Bureau chief Rajiv Jain, RAW chief Anil Dhasmana and Central Reserve Police Force chief Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar.

Informed sources said the meeting discussed the fresh trouble in Jammu and Kashmir, where a spike in stone-pelting incidents by students have caused a law and order problem.

The meeting took place hours before Pakistan Army killed two Indian soldiers in unprovoked firing and mutilated their bodies near the Line of Control (LoC), and the killing of seven persons, including five policeman, in a bid on a bank cash van.

Sources said that the Home Minister was briefed about the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and steps taken to tighten the security in the state.

The meeting comes days after Rajnath Singh reviewed the status of 2015 developmental package announced for Jammu and Kashmir by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and directed its expeditious implementation.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had held a meeting with Modi and Rajnath Singh last week during her Delhi visit and discussed the Kashmir situation.

After returing to state, she held the first meeting of the Unified Headquarters after last year's summer unrest that left more than 100 persons dead in the valley.

Security in areas of Maoist influence in view of Sukma attack was also discussed, the sources said.

A day after 25 CRPF troopers were massacred by Maoists in Chhattisgarh, Rajnath Singh visited the state and announced that the strategy to root out left-wing extremism will be reviewed and a meeting of affected states has been convened on May 8 for the purpose.

The Home Minister, termed the massacre as a "cold blooded murder" and said that their sacrifice won't go in vain.

Around 300 Maoists, including women, ambushed a CRPF contingent in a forested patch in Chhattisgarh, killing the troopers and escaping with their AK-47 assault rifles.

--IANS

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