Raman wants powerful Anti-Landmine vehicles

     New Delhi, June 14, 2011: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh today admitted that the higher amount of explosives used by the Maoists for IED blasts were making the anti-landmine vehicles apparently useless.

     After a meeting with Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and his Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik, Singh addressing a press conference in the presence of the two leaders, said anti-landmine vehicles become ineffective before a 60 to 80 kg explosive.

     Anti landmine vehicles have certain capacity and becomes ineffective when Maoists use 60 to 80 kg explosives which can blow up even a truck, he said adding there was a requirement of better anti-mine vehicles, he said.

     He also said, Chhattisgarh has about 4,000 km borders with Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Maharashtra and it was practically not possible to check the movement of Maoists in these areas.

     However, it was decided to augment the strength of the police in the border areas and operations would be intensified, Singh said.

     Earlier in the day, Home Minister Chidambaram reviewed the anti-Maoist operations in Odisha and Chhattisgarh with the Chief Ministers of the two states and offered full support of the Centre to face the challenge of Maoists.

     After the meeting Chidambaram said joint operations of central and state police forces would be launched against the Maoists along the inter-state borders.