Draft policy to deal Naxal created hostage crisis

The draft policy, prepared in the wake of kidnapping of two collectors in Odisha and Chhattsigarh, would be discussed threadbare at a meeting here on October 18 to be attended by Chief Secretaries and Directors General of Police of nine Maoist-hit states.

Parameters for negotiations, how to conduct the dialogue, keeping lines of communications open with abductors and back up plan like armed intervention through commando operation if talks fail are some of the highlights of the draft which was circulated to all Naxal-hit states for comments.

The high-level meeting, to be chaired by Union Home Secretary R K Singh, will also discuss the draft policy for tackling any crisis arising out of Maoists using civilians as human shield.

The policy advocates maximum precaution to avoid collateral damage, collection of better intelligence about extremists as well as the human shield, deployment of adequate security personnel and knowledge of topography of the area before launching any operation to resolve the crisis.

Use of non-lethal weapons and night vision device were other two key suggestions advocated in the draft policy to deal with the human shield crisis.

Several innocent lives were lost in the recent past when Naxals used human shield for their safety as security forces tried to end the crisis. (More)