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Strong security grid cut Maoist-affected districts from 126 to 11 in ten years: Amit Shah

RAIPUR: Union home minister Amit Shah stated that under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, the DGP/IGP conference has emerged as a vital forum for resolving the countrys internal security challenges from identifying problems and challenges to formulating strategies and policies. Shah made the remark on Friday while inaugurating the three-day Conference in Raipur. Talking about steps taken by the Modi Government for the complete elimination of Maoist, the home minister said that in the last seven years, the Central Government has strengthened the security grid by constructing 586 fortified police stations. As a result the Maoist-affected districts have come down from 126 in the year 2014 to just 11 now. The country will be completely free from the Maoist menace, the home minister affirmed. Shah underlined the Modi governments resolute efforts provided lasting solutions to the three hotspots which had become a festering wound for the nation Naxalism, the North-East, and Jammu & Kashmir. Highlighting the achievements of the Centre, the home minister said that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has been strengthened, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) has been made more robust, three New Criminal Laws have been introduced, and strong laws have been enacted against narcotics and fugitive offenders. Once the three New Criminal Laws are fully implemented, policing in India will become the most modern in the world, he added. Shah added that after the Centre banned the Popular Front of India (PFI), nationwide raids were conducted on their hideouts and arrests were made, which is an outstanding example of Centre-State coordination. He appreciated that security forces and police are delivering strong blows to extremism, radicalisation and narcotics by focusing on three key aspects: accuracy of intelligence, clarity of objectives, and synergy in action. We must launch a 360-degree attack on narcotics and organised crime and build such a system that drug traffickers and criminals do not get even an inch of space in this country, he said. The time has now come for state police forces to work together with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and strike hard at narcotics gangs operating at state, national and international levels, and put their masterminds behind bars, he added.