India to set up counterinsurgency force

NEW DELHI, June 18 (UPI) -- India's southern Orissa state said it would set up a counterinsurgency battalion for resolute action to counter Maoists.

The state government said the new elite force would be constituted in parts of the state with central funds. Federal Interior Minister Shivraj Patil has accepted the state's proposal made by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at a meeting with him in New Delhi, a state official said.

Patil asked Naveen to provide land for the battalion, keeping in view long-term requirements. The chief minister promised the land would be given free of cost for the building of the new force, the official said.

The chief minister also requested the interior minister to enhance the reimbursement amount under security-related expenditure scheme to continue with anti-Naxalite operations.

He also sought for the deputation of 400 central reserve police force personnel to the state to strengthen the Special Operation Group, exclusively meant for counterinsurgency and anti-Naxalite operations in the state. The interior minister agreed to consider the government's requests favorably, the official said.

Maoists are called Naxalites in India.