Impose emergency in Naxal strongholds in Chhattisgarh: Subramanian Swamy

Post-Sukma Naxal attack, Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday suggested the imposition of a state of emergency in Maoist strongholds in Chhattisgarh.

Swamy asserted that Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) should be enacted in Maoist-affected areas of the state in order to give a befitting reply to the ultras, who killed as many as 26 CRPF personnel.

'According to my opinion, I think now it's time that we declare the whole of the Sukma area and other parts of Chhattisgarh be brought under the article 352 of the constitution which means emergency,' said Swamy.

'We should declare the emergency in that area and impose Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA). We must now crackdown and do it in such a way that the Maoists will regret their wrongdoings,' he added.

The Union Home Ministry earlier in the day sought a report from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on the recent Sukma attack.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh yesterday directed Director General of the CRPF and security adviser to Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) K Vijay Kumar to stay put in Chhattisgarh and frame strategy to tackle Naxals in Sukma.

As many as 25 CRPF personnel were killed and six others injured in the encounter with the Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Sukma on Monday.

The attack took place on personnel of the CRPF's 74th Battalion as they were assisting the local population in road building activity in the district. The Centre has assured action against the perpetrators of the 'cold-blooded murder' in Sukma.

Singh said that the Centre and state government would work together to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to book.

Singh, who paid homage to the jawans during a wreath laying ceremony in Raipur along with his deputy Hansraj Ahir and Chief Minister Raman Singh, said that this cowardly and unfortunate act exposes desperation and frustration.

'It is a cold blooded murder by the extremists. The Centre and state governments will work together and take action in this regard,' Singh told a joint press briefing with the Chief Minister here. Condemning the attack, the Home Minister said that the sacrifice of the jawans would not go in vain.

He further said that the Centre, if needed, would review and also revise the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) strategy, adding a meeting of officials of various state governments has been called on May 8.

-ANI