Chhattisgarh: Advisor to MHA K Vijay Kumar takes meeting in red zone to review security

Newly appointed advisor to Home Ministry K Vijay Kumar is taking a marathon meeting in a red zone area in Chhattisgarh. According to reports, this is his first visit to the state after taking charge as an advisor in the Home Ministry. Kumar reached Chhatisgarh on Saturday and took a meeting in Jagdalpur. According to a government official, two meetings are scheduled with top forces and local administration officials in Sukma and Bijapur on Sunday.

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'K Vijay Kumar is taking stock of security issues' 

"The advisor is taking stock of security issues and implementation of planning of Government of India to wipe out Naxals," the official claimed. K Vijay Kumar has been appointed to Advisor the Home Ministry on security-related matters on Jammu and Kashmir and Left Wing Extremism affected areas. The officer from the 1975 batch of the IPS will “advise the ministry on security-related matters of Union Territory of JK [Jammu and Kashmir] and Left-Wing Extremism-affected states,” a government order stated. The order said that Kumar will serve in the ministry for one year from the date he assumed charge.

Kumar has served as the director-general of the Central Reserve Police Force and the director of the National Police Academy in Hyderabad. He led the Tamil Nadu Police’s special task force that killed sandalwood smuggler Veerappan in 2004. Following his retirement, Kumar was appointed as the senior security adviser on left-wing extremism in the Home Ministry during Rajnath Singh’s term.

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LWE related incidents in Chhattisgarh have reduced 

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, G. Kishan Reddy, in a written reply to a question regarding Maoist attacks in Chhattisgarh, in Rajya Sabha, earlier this month, said that in 2019, the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) related incidents and deaths in Chhattisgarh have reduced considerably in comparison with 2018. To combat the LWE Maoist menace in a holistic manner, Reddy said, the Government of India has formulated a National Policy and Action Plan in 2015, which envisages a multipronged approach comprising security, development, and ensuring rights and entitlements of local communities.

Fourteen districts -- Sukma, Bijapur, Dantewada, Bastar, Kondagaon, Kanker, Narayanpur, Rajnandgaon, Balod, Dhamtari, Mahasamund, Gariaband, Balrampur, and Kabirdham are affected by Maoist violence. In these areas, Maoists have targeted politicians and influential people in the past. 

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(with ANI inputs)