The Monday Maoist bloodbath leaving 24 CRPF troopers martyred and six injured in Sukma district is now proving without any doubt that Chhattisgarh is paying a heavier cost in terms of the number of CRPF and State Police personnel martyred during past three years than its demand from Centre to waive off charges towards deployment of Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPFs) in the red zones.
Notably, Chhattisgarh is one of the eight states which had recently requested the Union Home Ministry for waiving off cost of charges towards deployment of Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPFs) in the red zones of the State, the Central Government had informed.
Requests were received in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs from the State Governments of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Telangana, Uttarakhand and West Bengal for waiving off cost of the deployment charges towards CAPFs in their states, which were turned down.
Notably, Chhattisgarh stands fourth in the country in terms of the number of districts affected by left Wing Extremism (lWE).
A total of 106 districts in the States are considered as left Wing Extremism (lWE) affected. Of these, Bihar has maximum 22 districts, followed by Jharkhand (21), Odisha(19), Chhattisgarh (16), Andhra Pradesh and Telangana,- both 8 each, West Bengal and Maharashtra,- both 4 each, Uttar Pradesh,- 3 and Madhya Pradesh, one as per a Central Government data.
Notably, as many as 259 battalions of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) were deployed in Chhattisgarh’s left Wing Extremism (lWE) affected regions as on 2015-16.
The deployment in other states was as follows- Andhra Pradesh ( 16), Telangana ( 12), Bihar (57), Jharkhand ( 144), Madhya Pradesh ( 8), Maharashtra (34), Odisha ( 102), Uttar Pradesh ( 6), West Bengal (53).
A total of 691 battalions of CAPF were deployed across the country in lWE areas as on 2015-16, officials stated.
Deployment of CAPFs is a dynamic process and keeps on changing from time to time depending upon the requirements projected by the State as well as demands of other lWE affected states, availability of force and security situation in the particular State, they stated.
The Union Cabinet under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved raising of four 'India Reserve Battalions' (IR Bns) for Chhattisgarh State to be deployed in left Wing Extremism (lWE) pockets of the State.
The Union Cabinet announced to raise a total of 17 India Reserve Battalions (IR Bns) for Jammu & Kashmir and left Wing Extremism (lWE) affected States, officials stated.
It includes five IR Bns in the State of J&K, three IR Bns in Jharkhand, three IR Bns in Odisha and two IR Bns in Maharashtra including four for Chhattisgarh.
A total of 48 security force personnel and 45 civilians lost their lives in insurgency-infested Bastar region of Chhattisgarh during 2015-16, the Union Home Ministry has informed.
Notably, a total of 413 left Wing Extremist (lWE) cadres surrendered in 2014 as compared to 28 lWE cadres in 2013.
During 2015-16, 317 lWE cadres surrendered in Bastar region. In 2016 (upto April 15), 541 lWE cadres surrendered in Bastar region as compared to 65 surrenders in the corresponding period of 2015.
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers deployed in left Wing Extremism districts of Chhattisgarh killed as many as 17 Maoists in various encounters during financial year 2015-16 as on December 16, 2015, a Union Home Ministry data revealed.
A total of 208 Maoists had surrendered before the CRPF personnel during the aforesaid period in which eight of them carried rewards on their heads, it mentioned.
There had been 137 occasions of exchange of fire between the CRPF personnel and Maoists during the period in the lWE pockets of Chhattisgarh, the data mentioned.
The CRPF units recovered explosives weighing a total of 1141.5 kgs during the past five years between 2010 to 2015 ( as on December 16, 2015) in left Wing Extremism (lWE) districts of Chhattisgarh.
During the aforesaid period, CRPF troopers also unearthed Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) weighing a total of 1133.25 kgs in State’s red zones, officials stated.
It may be recalled that the recruitment process for all districts of insurgency infested Bastar region had been held earlier.
The newly being ‘Bastar Battalion’ raised by CRPF will have one-third women representation, officials informed.
Notably, the Bastar Battalion of CRPF is being raised by recruiting 744 Scheduled Tribe (ST) youths from four insurgency infested districts of Bastar in Chhattisgarh, the Central government has informed.
The districts from where the tribal youths would be recruited for the new Battalion are -- Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur and Sukma.
The decision to set up a Tribal Battalion has been taken with a view to give more employment to the tribal youth keeping in mind their unique characteristics.