‘Black Panther will fight rebels in Bastar’
CHHATTISGARH: Home minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said that the Chhattisgarh police has set up a special force called ‘Black Panther’ on the lines of Telangana’s ‘Greyhound’ battalions to counter Maoist rebels in their core area of Bastar.
Singh said Naxalism is a challenge but it is now shrinking and losing ground in the country. He said casualties among the security forces have fallen by almost 53 to 55% and the geographical expanse of Naxalism has also decreased by 40 to 45%.
“The credit for this goes to our CRPF jawans and officials and state police personnel,” the home minister said.
Singh said the life of a jawan cannot be compensated with money, but as a token of gratitude, the government has decided that not less than ₹1 crore should be given to the family of a securityman killed in a rebel attack. Singh also expressed confidence that the Black Panther force will be able to uproot Maoists from Chhattisgarh’s Bastar.
Special director general (Antinaxal operations) DM Awasthi said the special force will be deployed in Bastar in the next few weeks for conducting operations.
“The training of about 200 best personnel selected by the state police is going on,” Awasthi said. The Union minister said there are 52 battalions of central armed forces deployed in Chhattisgarh and more forces will be deployed in insurgency hit Bastar.
“In last seven months, seven camps of state and central forces have been established in the core areas of Maoists in Chhattisgarh and they were working in excellent coordination,” Singh said.
Singh was in Chhattisgarh to participate in passing-out parade of the Bastariya battalion of the CRPF in Ambikapur district.