The CRPF is deploying seven more battalions (7,000 personnel) in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh to reinforce its presence in the wake of inputs that Maoists have plans to target the forthcoming Assembly elections in the State as also in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The move comes after the Union Home Ministry, through an order dated August 14, directed the CRPF for the deployment of seven battalions following a request from the Chhattisgarh Government.
These battalions will be deployed in Sukma and Bijapur districts of Chhattisgarh, both considered Maoist strongholds.
While one battalion will be headquartered at Kistaram and deployed in Kistaram-Chin-talnar axis covering areas of Potapalli, Dubbamarka, Sala-tong, Elmagunda, Minpa and Mukram, another battalion will be put to use in Elangadgu, Kolsiguda, Dubbakonta, Karig-undam and Rasa Vang Nala in in Bheji.
Likewise, two battalions will be headquartered at Basaguda and one each at Kont, Usur and Mirtu. The Maoists had killed 25 CRPF personnel last year in Sukma and the paramilitary force subsequently avenged the killings and liquidated over a dozen ultras.
Intelligence inputs with the Union Home Ministry had warned that Maoists are imparting training to the cadres in fabricating IEDs and carrying out ambushes in order to disrupt the Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, MP and Rajasthan.
Reports said such training centres are functional in Rajnandgaon (Chhattisgarh) and Gadhchiroli (Maharashtra). Additionally, the notorious People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA) has stationed 150 hardcore cadres in the forest areas of South Sukma, considered a core area of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).
Assessments suggest the Maoists are seeking to revive the dwindling morale of the cadres and depleting recruitment base besides squeezing geographical spread in view of the continuous onslaught of the security forces against the ultras as also the high-handedness and corruption of the top leadership of the outfit. As many as 132 ultras were killed by the security forces in 2017 and the kill ratio has also been in favour of the uniformed agencies since 2015. Hundreds of cadres have surrendered in different States due to the coordinated assaults by the security forces. The concept of open jails like the one in Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand where the ultras can live with their families under security cover have further given a fillip to the surrenders.
Additionally, the CRPF in conjunction with the State police is targeting the core areas of the Maoists as part of the coordinated assault to free the so called liberated areas under the control of the banned outfit.
The security agencies have also advised the State government to fill the administrative vacuum particularly in Sukma, Bijapur and Narayanpur, with a combined area of 6,000 square kilometers, has just 40 mobile towers. To address the issue, the Chhattisgarh Government set up 20 camps and two police stations in South Sukma last year. Joint camps of the CRPF and Chhattisgarh Police have been set up in the police stations Kistaram in South Sukma and Pamed in Bikapur for better operations against the ultras.