Shah to attend CRPF event in Naxal hotbed today

Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday afternoon arrived in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district to attend the 84th Raising Day event of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

Mr Shah landed at Jagdalpur in a special flight and flew to the base camp of CoBRA 204 battalion in Karanpur by a chopper.

Mr Shah is scheduled to hold a meeting with senior paramilitary and police personnel in the camp, a senior police official said.

On Saturday morning, he will attend the 84th Raising Day of the CRPF there and then visit a security camp at Potakpalli village in the neighbouring Sukma district, the officer added.

Security has been heightened in the Bastar region in view of Shah's visit, he said.

A team of 75 female commandos of CRPF on Friday landed in Kondagaon, a Naxal hotbed in Bastar, after traversing 1848 km on bikes in 16 days.

Setting out from India Gate in Delhi on March 9, the bravehearts crisscrossed the hinterlands of north, west and Central India to reach south Bastar.

“We have taken remote forested routes in Bastar to reach Kondagaon. Our expedition will end in Jagdalpur, headquarters of Bastar, on Saturday”, deputy commandant and head of the expedition Tara Devi told this newspaper.

The female bikers had received tumultuous reception at many places particularly from the women and girls in rural areas during the journey, she said. “The expedition by the women commands has caught the imagination of women and girls particularly in rural areas”, she said. The female commandos performed daredevil stunts on their bikes at several places during their journey.

Recounting the expedition, the third bike journey undertaken by women commandos of CRPF in the last nine years, Ms Devi said they used to cover 350 km every day and the bikers throughout the expedition remained highly motivated. “The expedition showcased women empowerment and hence, caught the imagination of women and girls”, she added.