The Union home ministry has asked security forces to crack down on the urban network of Maoist strategists and their supporters across the country, sources in the security establishment said on Saturday.

“The home ministry’s direction has come in the wake of recent intelligence inputs that suggest Maoist strategists are active in several cities and have been providing support to underground rebels,” said an Intelligence Bureau official attached to the Union home ministry.

The official said the ministry had directed security forces to simultaneously launch an all-out offensive against underground rebels and crack down on their urban network.

The Central Reserve Police Force, the country’s primary counter-Maoist force, is said to have been coordinating with state police forces to launch operations to identify and arrest overground Maoist supporters in several cities.

“These Maoist supporters and strategists have allegedly helped rebels in the past in planning and executing attacks on security forces, especially in Maoists-infested areas of Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra,” said a home ministry official.

An Intelligence Bureau report had earlier highlighted that Maoists had procured huge cache of arms in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar and in the forested areas of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand. The report also pointed out that some areas of these states were still out of bounds for security forces because of Maoist presence in the hilly terrain and dense forests.

The ministry official said the Centre was planning to set up a special force on a par with the Greyhounds for Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha. It will be funded entirely by the Centre.

The Greyhounds are a dedicated anti-Naxalite force for Andhra Pradesh where Maoist movement is said to have suffered multiple setbacks and forced to move into neighbouring Chhattisgarh and Odisha.