On Sentry Duty

Of late, cops in the capital have been having sleepless nights. Senior officers have been making surprise late-night visits to city police stations to check on "preparedness" to ward off Naxal attacks. But in most cases, duty cops were literally caught napping. The late-night visits are part of an ongoing drive to "sensitise" the city police over possible attacks, in view of the spree of escalating Naxal-related violence. However, so far the attacks have been restricted to remote rural areas. Besides targeting police stations and personnel, politicians are also in their line of fire. Before the peace process began, the Naxals’ main targets had been TDP-BJP leaders. Now, even Congress and TRS netas are under attack.