Army to plan Maoist ops

The Indian Army has agreed to depute some officers of the rank of brigadier and colonel to the Union home ministry to act as military advisers for anti-Naxalite operations and strategy in different states, defence sources confirmed.

The Army agreed to this after refusing to depute major-generals, as it felt officers of such high rank were not needed for such a job.

“The Army has agreed to send brigadiers and colonels as advisers. The home ministry had earlier asked for major-generals, but the Army declined on the ground that major-generals would be too senior for such a task. In any

case, colonels are the cutting edge of the Army and have the maximum field experience in leading counter-insurgency operations and are just right for the job,” a defence source said. “We are waiting for the home ministry to spell out the exact number of officers needed as advisers,” the source added.