Home Secretary V K Duggal told reporters after chairing the Naxal Coordination Committee meeting that the situation in West Bengal was by and large peaceful with only nine incidents of Naxal attacks this year.

''Their only demand was for additional forces for state Assembly election and more manpower during elections,'' Mr Duggal said when asked what were the points put forward by the Chief Secretary and DGP of West Bengal who also attended the meeting.

Asked whether Maoists from Nepal were infiltrating the border areas of Bihar and West Bengal, Mr Duggal said there was no evidence of direct interaction or transfer of personnel taking place at present.

''No physical, only limited ideological exchanges are taking place among them (Naxalites and Maoists from Nepal),'' he said.

According to Mr Duggal, the source of weapons for naxals were police and armoury which they were looting. He said Naxals were attacking soft targets of innocent and poor people and civilians.

Pointing out the large number of vacancies in police in various states, he said that states have been asked to fill them expeditiously. He lauded Jharkhand government for recently filling up 11000 of the 12000 police posts lying vacant in the state.

However, Bihar still has a large number of about 17000 vacancies.

The state government has recently taken steps for review and recruitment. Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh are also taking steps in this regard, he said.

Mr Duggal said intelligence sharing was moving on good tracks and joint task forces are operating in border areas of Jharkhand and Orissa, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh and Orissa.

UNI AJ/SH HS DB2001