State cut a deal with Naxals: WB Home Secy

ACTUALLY FIGHTING NAXALS? The WB Home Secretary says there is no question of long-standing talks with Naxals.

    

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New Delhi: Did the West Bengal government - battling the Naxals for months now - actually cut a deal with them to secure the release of kidnapped policeman Atindranath Dutta? Dutta who was released in the presence of journalists came home on Friday. His family is overjoyed, but the manner of his kidnap and release poses some worrying questions for the Centre and state government. West Bengal Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen joined CNN-IBN to shed some light on the matter.

CNN-IBN: Ardhendu Sen, a lot of speculation is on at the moment on just how kidnapped policeman Atindranath Dutta was released. Many reports state that he was freed by the Naxals as part of a deal where the state government didn't oppose the bail of 22 alleged Naxal sympathisers in Lalgarh. What is the truth?

Ardhendu Sen: Well, what is important is that we have our OC back with us. Yes we did talk to Naxal leader Kishenji and we tried to impress on him that it would be in their interest to release both the abducted officers. And yes, we didn't oppose the bail for the women held earlier in the Kats Pahadi case, so that must have also weighed with them and all in all we had this happy ending if I may say so.

CNN-IBN: What you are saying is explosive. On the one hand, the Union Home Minister says no talks will be held with the Naxals until they abjure violence and on the other hand, you are admitting that the state is talking to Naxals and that to at gunpoint.

Ardhendu Sen: No, as far as I understand, what the Union Home Minister has said and our Chief Minister also has said is that there is no question of talking long term with the Naxals unless they abjure violence, unless they lay down arms. We are not going to talk development with them, we are not going to talk strategy with them. But something like the incident in Sankhrail demands talks and it's a question of getting one or two officers out of their custody. Of course we are going to talk to them. It's completely different.

CNN-IBN: Aren't you worried that you have emboldened the Naxals to carry out more such attacks, that your policemen are even more vulnerable now? Two of your men were killed in this attack as well.

Ardhendu Sen: That kind of a question turns up whenever such a situation comes, whether it's an attack on a police station or a hijack of a plane. Yes we are worried, but such situations can arise. The answer is to be prepared in such a way that such things cannot happen - whether they feel emboldened or not. If they feel emboldened we have to feel that we have to get our act together, we have to be much more alert than we were previously. So we should still come out on the winning side.

CNN-IBN: There has been much criticism of how poorly prepared the police were. The police station in West Midnapore, in the heart of Naxal country, was understaffed and arms were locked up and out of reach. How are you going to step up the security now?

Ardhendu Sen: Well we had the collections of 18 police stations, which are officially affected with left-wing extremism. The Sankhrail police station was not included in this list and it is quite a few kilometers - 40-50 kilometers - away from the theatre of action in Lalgarh. So, the first lesson we have learnt is that we have to step outside the usually affected thanas or areas and set up our defences, strengthen the fortifications in thanas which were so far not believed to be vulnerable. And that is precisely what we are doing. Instead of 18, we are now thinking of 30 police stations in these three districts, which need to be fortified.