A trooper of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), a specialised anti-Naxal unit of the CRPF, was on Monday injured after Maoists triggered an IED blast in Chhattisgarh’s insurgency-hit Dantewada district, police said.
Police identified the injured CoBRA commando as constable Piyush Kumar, adding that he had sustained splinter injuries in the IED blast. The incident took place this evening in the forest at the foot of a hill in Bacheli area bordering Bijapur district, during a search-cum-area domination operation by security forces, said an official.
Notably, a total of 31 Maoists were nabbed by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers in Bastar during the month of March this year, the latest CRPF data has informed.
CRPF troopers involved in anti-insurgency operations in Bastar region had recovered a total of 17 Improvised Explosive Devices ( IEDs) including eight from Sukma district planted by Maoists in three months till March this year as per the records available with CRPF's Central Zone.
A total of 78 IEDs were recovered by CRPF personnel weighing 459 kgs as on April 6, 2017 during 2017-18 from insurgency hit pockets of Bastar region in Chhattisgarh, a data of Union Home Ministry had revealed.
CRPF recovered 14 IEDs planted by Maoists with total weight of 82 kgs during its anti-insurgency operations in various districts of Bastar during the month of November last year, the CRPF monthly action data had informed.
Chhattisgarh is among other insurgency infested states where highest 38 CRPF troopers were martyred in 15 incidents of Maoist attacks during the past six months as on June, 30, 2017.
During the period , incidents of Maoists attacks in other insurgency infested states are as follows- Andhra Pradesh (1), Bihar (3), Jharkhand (4), Maharashtra (8) and Odisha (1).The Central Government has a comprehensive National Policy and a multi-pronged action plan to deal with left Wing Extremism comprising of security related measures, developmental interventions and ensuring rights and entitlements of local communities etc, the Central Government has informed.
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 country are considered as left Wing Extremism (lWE) affected. Of these, Bihar State 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.
The CRPF in June 2017 had also decided to procure a highly sophisticated Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) system for its anti-insurgency operations in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh.