Chhattisgarh police curtail counter-Maoist ops

RAIPUR: Due to operational constraints and the possibility of a shortage of essentials for the forces, the Chhattisgarh police has scaled down its anti-Maoist operations since the lockdown started on March 24.

The officials said the approach was to have fewer “dedicated offensive” against the ultras.

Chhattisgarh director general of police DM Awasthi said only four anti-Maoist operations have been conducted since the lockdown in comparison to 15-20 such operations every 10 days earlier.

More than 65,000 police personnel, including 48 battalions of the central forces, are deployed in Bastar. As per police estimate, about 5,500 Maoist cadres (from its political and military wings) live in Bastar jungles and over 3 lakh people are Sangham Sadasya (foot-soldiers) of CPI (Maoist). “Only dedicated operations are being undertaken now,” said a police superintendent posted in one of the districts of Bastar, requesting anonymity.

“Low traffic on roads and jungle can be dangerous for security forces,” he added.

DGP Awasthi said, “I have given instructions to officials that operations will only be planned when there is specific intelligence of Maoist movement.”

An officer said the killing of 17 jawans in Sukma in a Maoist ambush, a day after the lockdown was enforced, has also taken a toll on the morale of the personnel. “Many of the jawans are from rural areas in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha and are worried about their families. But leaves have been cancelled due to the lockdown,” the official said.

“Forces are more exposed during this lockdown because no other vehicles are allowed but SPs should continue intelligence based operations. Police should take care of the mental health of their personnel,” said former state DGP Prakash Singh.