96 die in Orissa Maoist attacks in 2008

Nearly 74 police personnel along with 22 civilians died in Naxal attacks in 2008. This is mentioned in the White Paper of the Home department. The Maoists executed at least 57 offensives at different places in 2008, the white paper informed.

It also read out that police arrested 120 Naxal cadres and recovered 785 weapons from their possession. “The state government also took a number of anti-Maoist measures. The state filled up the vacancies in police department and raised the strength of SOG jawans,” the white paper informed.

Meanwhile the red debate dominated the proceedings at Lok Sabha with the BJD members demanding enhanced budgetary allocation for tackling Maoist menace in Naxal-infested Orissa.

“The Centre would extend full cooperation to Orissa to tackle Maoist violence. The state has been demanding CRPF, Rs 20 cr for intelligence uplift and around Rs 100 cr for development. But the Centre is yet to come to the aid of the state in effective manner,” BJD MP Kalikesh Singhdeo said.

But Congress MP Bhakta Das batted for the Congress-led UPA at Centre saying that Orissa government ‘failed to utilize’ the resources given by Centre in the past. “The Centre has been extending financial aid to the state for tackling Maoist menace. But the state has failed to unitize it. It also failed to bring development in terms of health, education and transport in Naxal-hit regions forcing youths to join the Naxalite groups,” Das alleged.