Naxalite problem under control: Mahto

Jamshedpur, Apr 1 (UNI) Jharkhand home minister Sudesh Kumar Mahto today claimed that the insurgency problem in the state was under control and the state police force was ready to face any eventuality.

Talking to newspersons after visiting the police personnel, who was injured in a land mine blast engineered by the rebels of proscribed CPI (Maoist) at Dumaria area recently, the minister said the police were conducting raids regularly in the naxalite-dominant districts in the state and also succeeded in containing the naxalite threat in many areas.

Mr Mahto said the state intelligence department was alert and was providing information about the activities of the ultras to the police forces.

He said, ''The naxalite menace was not the problem of Jharkhand alone. The problem had become a national issue and as many as nine states were facing the wrath of naxalite attack''.

He said the Centre and the states should jointly combat the social menace. The naxalite issue was related to the socio-economic problems, Mr Mahto said.

The minister said the seriously injured officer-in-charge of Dumaria police station was being shifted to AIIMS in Delhi for better treatment. The condition of four others injured was stable, he said.

Meanwhile, the general secretary of Jharkhand Police Association Charagupta Singh alleged that the Deputy Commissioner of East Singhbhum district N M Kulkarni, who was supposed to bear the expenditure of treatment of the injured cops, had not provided any funds and the association was bearing all expenditure.

He said the moral of the police would be affected if the government remained apathetic to the policemen, who risked their lives to wage battle against the ultras.

Mr Singh also met the home minsiter and urged him to provide financial assistance to the injured cops.

UNI BDG SP PR PC2315