-The Hindustan Times Even as the Congress upped its ante on last week's anti-naxal Encounter in Chhattisgarh and claimed innocent tribals and children were killed by the security forces, union home minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said he was "deeply sorry" if any civilian died in the anti-Maoist operations. Union tribal affairs minister V Kishore Chandra Deo told HT that he is also collecting information from various sources and will present them...

-The Telegraph The CRPF will review standard operating procedures (SOPs) on tackling Maoists’ “human shields” and conducting night operations, sources said today, less than a week after Friday’s controversial operation in Chhattisgarh that resulted in 19 deaths. The move came on a day a preliminary report by a panel of state Congress leaders suggested six of those killed were villagers in their teens. Yesterday, Union tribal affairs minister Kishore Chandra Deo had...

-The Economic Times A section of the Chhattisgarh government is coming around to the view that a judicial inquiry into the recent Encounter with Maoists may be the best option to counter allegations that innocent tribals were killed.  The state government is already in touch with the Union home ministry in this regard, a senior official told ET. The official, who did not wish to be named, said a section within the...

-The Hindustan Times In a clear indication of growing unease within the Congress party over last week's anti-naxal operation in Chhattisgarh in which 19 alleged Maoists were killed, tribal affairs minister V Kishore Chandra Deo on Tuesday termed the action "completely unacceptable". Deo's comments echo the Chhattisgarh Congress state unit's view that the Encounter by the state police and the CRPF in Bijapur district was "completely fake". Deo said he will raise the...

Security forces will need to retool their strategy to ensure that innocent lives are not lost in anti-Maoist ops, reports Vicky Nanjappa  The killing of 19 persons alleged to be Maoists in Sarkeguda in Chhattisgarh on June 29 in a major operation by the Central Reserve Police Force has sparked off a major controversy, with villagers crying foul and calling the entire operation a fake one in which innocents were killed. According...