After COBRA, railway police being trained to take on Maoists in state
Commando Battalion for Resolute Action, or CoBRA commandos as they are better known, will get company to fight the Maoists. The commandos of Railway Protection Force (RPF) are currently being trained in jungle warfare to take on the Naxals who operate in Maharashtra’s ‘Red Corridor’.
According to the RPF, the area between Chandrapur and Balharshah, known as the state’s red zone, will be their main focus. Maoists operating in these areas regularly rob and loot passengers on moving trains.
Sources said 28 out of 214 RPF commandos in the state have been trained in jungle warfare at the North-Eastern Police Academy in Meghalaya. Another nine were trained by a special force called ‘Greyhound’ in Telangana in 2015.
“The commandos were trained for 45 days at NEPA. During the training, they were taught about jungle warfare and how to use thermal cameras to identify people at night,” an RPF commando said.
Once they return from the jungle warfare course, the commandos will be further trained by Maharashtra’s Force One. The programme will continue for three months.
The dedicated team of 54 commando force for the railways was formed after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
In a related development, the CRPF will soon deploy a fresh squad of about 2,000 commandos from CoBRA battalions in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh to fight the Maoists.
Sukma and its adjoining areas have witnessed some of the deadliest ambushes on security forces recently, like the one where 25 CRPF personnel were killed in Burkapal area of the district on April 24.