Naxal sway over 40,000 sq km !

A day after the PM described Naxalism as the gravest internal security threat, a parliamentary panel was informed on Wednesday that the Red ultras were calling the shots in 40,000 sq km area—mainly parts of the dense forest area in Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Jharkhand—where the government has virtually no control. Earlier, home minister P Chidambaram, while addressing police chiefs in a meet on Monday, mentioned that over 2,000 police station areas in 223 districts in the affected states were partially or substantially affected by Naxalism. He asked police chiefs to quickly complete the crime and criminal tracking network and system to increase coordination among agencies. Known for his business-like approach, Chidambaram, who turned 65 on Wednesday, spent the entire day attending official meetings.