By IANS,
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday said the government reviewed from time to time various options to fight Maoists, including the use of air power, and is yet to take a final decision.
“I think, the policy has to be reviewed from time to time in the light of experience. But we are too close to the event to take a view that the existing policy needs to be modified,” Manmohan Singh told reporters on the sidelines of the Padma awards investiture at Rashtrapati Bhavan here.
He was asked about the government’s strategy to counter the Maoists in the wake of Tuesday’s massacre of 75 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in the forest of Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district Tuesday.
“As of now, we have not taken any view in this direction. But all these are options, which are kept under continuous review,” he said, when asked specifically about the use of air force which Home Minister P. Chidambaram had hinted at.
Chidambaram, who attended a memorial ceremony for the 75 CRPF personnel in Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh, said: “At present there is no mandate to use the air force or any aircraft, but if necessary we will have to revisit the mandate and make some changes.”
Hundreds of Maoists trapped over 80 CRPF personnel on a hilly stretch in Dantewada district Tuesday morning and went on a killing spree using pressure bombs and automatic weapons.
In no time, at least 75 CRPF men and a Chhattisgarh police officer lay dead in the area where the rebels have run a de facto state for decades.