I wasn't told in time about Naxal meeting: Nitish

Clarifying his stand on skipping Tuesday's meeting convened by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram to help the four Naxal-affected states of West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand counter the Naxal problem, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said he had prior commitments and was not informed about the meeting in advance.

Kumar said, "I had prior commitments to fulfill today (Tuesday) and the home minister did not discuss these issues while fixing the dates."

"I don't think, we can solve these issues by applying force," added Kumar.

Kumar has sent Bihar home secretary for the meeting in his absence.

Director generals of police of the Central Reserve Police Force and Border Security Force also attended the meeting along with the top police officials of the Naxal-affected four states.