'We are ready to face police forces,' say Maoists.

Byline: ANI

Dumariya forest region (Bihar), Oct.14 (ANI): A Maoist leader has said that the rebel group is ready to face the police forces in Bihar and in other parts of the country.

"The forces which are being brought in to suppress villagers like Cobra (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) battalion and other specialised forces we are ready to face them...we have formed PLGA (Peoples Liberation Guerrilla Army) and we have deployed it to face security forces," Amarjit, a Maoist leader told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting.

Earlier on Tuesday, the rebels held a meeting in the dense forest region.

They burnt effigies of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram.

Bihar is one of the six Indian states badly affected by Maoist rebellion. The banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) had given a call for two-day shutdown on Monday (October 12) in Bihar and Jharkhand state.

Suspected rebels also blew up railway tracks and towers of mobile phone companies during shutdown.

Maoists have ignored repeated calls to renounce violence and negotiate across the table. So much so, they have stepped up their attacks in recent past months, prompting the government to go after them in a concerted strike.

The timing of the government offensive is not yet known but is expected to be executed later this month.

Apart from addressing a massive security issue, the government has plans to free mineral-rich areas worth billion of dollars now under the control of rebels.

India is battling Maoists across eastern, central and southern India, an insurgency that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described as the biggest internal security challenge since independence.

Maoists have formally been labelled as a terrorist group by India's federal government, which gives security forces more enforcement powers.

However, some experts say the ban has not had much impact so far in the battle against thousands of Maoists.(ANI)

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