Raipur, July 27 - Indian Maoists, described by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the country's greatest security challenge, have come up with an audacious plan to seize political power by stepping up 'armed resistance' and inflicting 'severe losses to the enemy forces' all over the country.

At the same time, the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) is telling its guerrillas to learn a lesson from the decimation of the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka and not to be overconfident.

The CPI-Maoist programme is part of a 20-page secret policy document that was decided by the party's leadership at an undisclosed forested area last month. Dated June 12, IANS has a copy of the document.

The CPI-Maoist has warned that its new war against the Indian state will be 'more long drawn and more bitter' than the struggle India waged against British colonial rule for 'seizure of political power'.

The document, 'Post-Election Situation, Our Tasks', is in English. It outlines how and where the Maoists need to step up attacks with a changed strategy, keeping in mind the setbacks suffered by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Under the sub-heading 'Immediate Tasks', it says the entire party and its armed wings need to carry out 'tactical counter-offensives and various forms of armed resistance and inflict severe losses to the enemy forces'.

'Attacks should be organised with meticulous planning against the state's khaki and olive-clad terrorist forces, SPOs (Special Police Officers), police informants, and other counter-revolutionaries and enemies of the people.

'These attacks should be carried out in close coordination with, and in support of, the armed resistance of the masses; these should be linked to the seizure of political power and establishment of base areas; it is the combined attacks by all the three wings ... and the people at large that can ensure the defeat of the enemy offensive.

'In order to defeat the new offensive by the enemy and to protect the gains of People's War, it is very essential to rouse the masses throughout the country (to) stand up in support of the struggles in Dandakaranya, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka and other places'.