50,000 Maoists active in Bastar: Raman

     New Delhi, July 14, 2010:  Maoists wanted to convert Bastar as their base area and about 50,000 of them are active in that region, Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh told a meeting on naxalites, chaired by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.

     “Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee is comprising of seven divisions and 32 area committees and about 50,000 naxalites and jan militia cadre are engaged in a war against the democracy in that region,” Chief Minister Singh said here.

     Singh was addressing an important meeting of the Chief Ministers of the Maoists affected states, chaired by the Prime Minister here are New Delhi.

     Out of the total encounters took place between the Maoists and the security forces in the country, about 40 per cent of them have been reported from Bastar region alone, he said.

     The Chief Minister also rejected the proposal for any talks with the Maoists saying talks have no meaning unless the Maoists lay down their weapons and express confidence on the Indian Constitution.

     He also called for a total war against the Maoists saying it was needed for the protection of the democracy in the country.