The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is revisiting the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of its elite anti-Naxal CoBRA battalions due to “unsatisfactory” overall performance.
At a senior officers conference at the CRPF directorate here recently, Director General Dilip Trivedi underscored that the performance of all CoBRA battalions is not up to the mark and directed the Inspectors General to make an analysis of the performance of specialised battalions. The DG also highlighted the need to be more attentive to the deficiencies of the CoBRA.
The SOP of Combat Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) is being revisited to clearly outline the vision and role of these units. The IsG were also asked to ensure that prescribed operational strength of CoBRA teams should be maintained for operations. Field reports suggested that optimum strength of CoBRA was not going out for operations.
The CRPF Directorate has also instructed the Inspectors General to rationalize the tasks assigned to the CoBRA battalions in different States. The 206 CoBRA battalion, deployed in Maharashtra, is being relocated to Chhattisgarh as the State police is not interested in taking the paramilitary for operations, an official who attended the conference said.
The paramilitary force is also analysing if the Naxals have revised their strategy in Chhattisgarh as recovery of explosives in the State has come down. Recovery of explosives from West Bengal has been significant with 30 per cent of all arms and ammunition recovered from Naxal areas being seized from the State.
The CRPF is also bringing some changes in the present operational structure in order to bring commanders closer to the troops. This is expected to facilitate better supervision and monitoring leading to improved results/performance in future. The paramilitary has advised the senior officials posted in the Naxal-affected States to secure the primary roads before moving deep into the jungles and establishment of common minimum monitoring grid.