India to raise elite force against Maoists

NEW DELHI, July 1 (UPI) -- India says it will raise a specialized force trained in guerrilla warfare to counter Maoist violence in the country.

The federal Interior Ministry would raise a specialized 10,000-strong force, trained in jungle and guerrilla warfare to tackle Naxalite violence, said an Interior Ministry official.

He said the ministry has prepared a detailed proposal and is awaiting approval from the Cabinet. The top officials of the ministry held wide consultations on preparing a comprehensive plan for raising the force.

The decision has been taken following a Naxalite strike in Malkangiri in Orissa recently and in Jharkhand on Monday, The Hindu newspaper reported Tuesday. Maoists are called Naxalites as they started their armed struggle to set up a communist regime in India in 1970s from a little-known place called Naxalbari in West Bengal state.

The official said even after the approval of the federal Cabinet, it would take at least two years to raise and train all 10 battalions. "To meet this gap and kick-start the scheme, we have already asked the Central Reserve Police Force to devote two of its battalions purely for anti-naxalite operations. We will then need to freshly recruit and train men for raising eight battalions," the official said.

The specialized force would receive training from Greyhound force of Andhra Pradesh state and elite national security guards, he added.