Steep decline in Naxal-related incidents in C'garh: Government

"A steep decline in naxal incidents has been reported this year since 2004. Pro-active measures by the security forces have thwarted the naxal attempts. Although, Maoists were attempting to strengthen their hold in other districts regular cordoning operations have prevented them to do so," Home Minister Nankiram Kanwar said in reply to a calling attention motion on the floor of state Assembly.

Claiming that naxal-related incidents are fallen to half in the current year in comparison to 2006, Kanwar said the number of cases involving killing of innocent people has also come down.

Referring to the naxal ambush of the convoy of senior Congress leader Mahendra Karma in November, the minister said the Salwa Judum leader was attacked for raising voice against Maoist insurgents propagating violence.

"The state government has provided protection to Karma", he added.

Earlier, state unit Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and the Leader of Opposition Ravindra Choubey alleged the Red menace is on the rise. "More than half of the districts have become naxal-affected and people including political leaders are no more safe here," they said.