A day before killing BJP MLA, naxals extended support to Pakistan backed group

New Delhi, Apr 10: A day before the ghastly attack that killed a BJP MLA in Chhattisgarh and four others, the naxalites had extended support to the Pakistan backed Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front.

Posters extending support to the JKLF had been put up by the Odisha Balangir Committee of the banned Communist Part of India (Maoist). Further it also called for a boycott of the elections both in Jammu and Kashmir and Chhattisgarh as well, police sources tell OneIndia.

On Tuesday, the naxalites triggered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in which BJP MLA, Bhima Mandavi's convoy was targeted. The MLA and four others were killed in the incident.

The police say that the posters had been circulated in the Bastar region. Further it may be recalled that in March, the Intelligence Bureau had warned about a big naxal attack ahead of the elections.

It may be recalled that similar alerts had been issued prior to the elections in the five states that were held last year. The security forces managed to thwart all attempts that were made during the assembly elections.

The naxalites had even prepared a hit-list of politicians to target during the elections. Following this a similar alert was issued ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. It was stated that under their new commander Basavaraj, they would look to get more aggressive during the elections.

The alert further read that the naxalites would use IED and even attempt to kidnap of kill political leaders. The report also said that the naxalites were moving more of their cadres into Chhattisgarh ahead of the elections.

Further, it was stated that the naxalites had been trying to re-group and had even called in their cadres from Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.

An Intelligence Bureau (IB) official informed that the alerts were specific and security forces had been told to be on very high alert. The officer also noted that there would be more such attempts during the elections. Security forces are over worked during an election season and naxalites take advantage of the same, the officer also said.