India at 75: In a first, BSF hoists tricolour at remote Naxal base in Odisha

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Malkangiri: A special anti-Naxal operations squad of the Border Security Force (BSF) on Sunday marked Independence Day by hoisting the national flag for the first time at a newly-created base in a remote Maoist violence-hit region of Odisha, officials said.

The company operating base (COB) of the border guarding force is located at Mohupadar, about 90 km from the district headquarters here and deep inside the jungles along the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border.

The base, manned by the troops of the 160th BSF battalion, was operationalised on May 28 as part of expanding the footprints of the security forces in some of the most troubled Naxal violence-affected regions of the state and simultaneous ushering of development works.

The Mohupadar region and its adjoining areas have been witness to numerous Naxal violence incidents, including destruction of schools, panchayat buildings and even a police station some years back, a senior BSF officer said.

The security forces have also faced a number of Naxal ambushes and attacks here.

After the paramilitary force decided to create this base, he said link roads to connect it were created and bettered.

BSF deputy inspector general based at its sector headquarters in Malkangiri, S K Singh, and Commandant of the 160 battalion Tirtha Acharya along with the village 'sarpanch', police officials and locals participated in the flag hoisting ceremony at the new base, the officer said.

"This is the first time the flag is being hoisted at this base on the occasion of the Independence Day as it has been established and operationalised only in May this year.

"The force aims to enhance the sense of security among the locals and bring development in the region," the officer said.

The BSF, the country's largest border guarding force with a strength of about 2.65 lakh personnel, is primarily tasked to guard Indian fronts with Pakistan and Bangladesh.

It is also deployed for conducting anti-Naxal operations in the Left Wing Extremism affected states of Chhattisgarh and in Odisha, where it was deployed from 2010.