The new modus operandi of the Naxals to infiltrate into the state police forces is part of a well-planned strategy devised and executed by a top Naxal commander Ravula Srinivas alias Ramanna. A multi-agency probe launched into this “highly disturbing trend’’ reveals that Ramanna had been working on this plan for a long time and it has now been confirmed that a number of Naxals have successfully infiltrated into the police force.
Intelligence sources said Ramanna effectively used the government’s strategy to tackle the Naxal menace against them only. It has been learnt that the salwa judum, an outfit comprising armed villagers floated in Chhattisgarh with government backing, comprised a large number of Naxals. “We thought that we had successfully armed the villagers to fight Naxals but it seems most of them were actually Naxal sympathisers only. The possibility of a lot of resources, in terms of money, arms and ammunition spent on salwa judum, having finally made way to the Naxals cannot be discounted,’’ a top security official said.
Intelligence officials suspect that having effectively cracked the salwa judum, Ramanna then turned his attention to the state police force using similar modus operandi. Officials admitted that records of police recruitment done at the junior level over the last decade needs to be scrutinised thoroughly in all Naxal-infested states.
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Cherie to herd goats across London Bridge
Rashme Sehgal
New Delhi, June 21
In order to focus on the plight of widows across the globe, celebrities led by Cherie Blair, wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Miriam Clegg, wife of the British deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, will be leading a herd of 20 goats across London Bridge on June 23 which is International Widows’ Day.
Herding goats in the heart of London! This sounds like an oxymoron. But there is a strong logic behind this London Bridge Goat Walk. The Loomba Foundation is working in the area of widow upliftment and since the founder of the foundation, Lord Raj Loomba, is a “Freeman of the City of London”, he enjoys an ancient historic right to drive livestock across the London Bridge. Goats are seen as symbols of wealth for widows across many cultures.