Raipur: A first-of-its-kind anti-Naxal
operation has given a strategic entry for paramilitary forces
in the Abujmaad forests in Chhattisgarh, considered the Maoist
headquarters where there has been no presence of government
for ages.
Armed with modern gadgets, over 3,000 men from CRPF and
its elite strike unit--CoBRA, the para-military forces and
state police--combed the forests spread over 4,000 sq km and
joining neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra
during the month that just ended.
Codenamed--"Maad", "Kilam" and "Podku"--the operation was
monitored by CRPF Director General K Vijay Kumar and his
Inspector General (Operation) in Chhattisgarh, Pankaj Singh,
who decided on the plans to make forays in the jungles.
Armed with a British-era survey of the jungle, they
decided that the men will enter from three sides - Narayanpur-
Gadchiroli (Maad) with point of contact at Jatwar in the heart
of the jungle, Bhairamgarh-Matwara (Podku) and Mardapal-
Chotedonger (Kilam).
"In all, the operations which comprised CRPF officers,
CoBRA and some state police -a total of about 3000 personnel-
their movements were monitored round-the-clock at make-shift
headquarters," says 49-year-old Singh after the successful
operation in which over 33 Maoists were arrested.
"It was anxious moments from the word go when the
operation began on March 5 and continued till March 20. The
Maoists had the advantage of the terrain and we were in a land
that had never been visited so far," recalled the senior
police official.
PTI
