Forces in Chhattisgarh count more dead Naxals than ever

The high November count comes the month after visits by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and K Vijay Kumar, senior adviser, Anti-Naxal Operations, to Bastar. Police officers told The Indian Express a large part of the success in anti-Naxal operations is due to better coordination among forces.

“More than the numbers, what is important is the joint effort that is now being put in,” said R K Vij, ADG, Anti-Naxal Operations. “The District Reserve Group of Chhattisgarh police has been imparted better training, and this comes coupled with cooperation with other security agencies involved.”

S R P Kalluri, IG of Bastar, suggested the “improved results” had come also from changes in strategy, which was largely worked on during the “rainy season when operations in the jungles are minimal”. “The first aspect is the idea of composite teams. Each force involved — DRG of Chhattisgarh police, CRPF and STF — has its own sets of strengths and weaknesses. So when one force undertook a mission, the Naxals would zero in on its particular weakness. We are now employing composite teams, where planning is done together,” Kalluri said.

He added, “The second aspect is an increase in interstate coordination, while the third is training that has been imparted. During the rainy season, DRG personnel were sent for training in the Northeast.”

Until November, 44 security troops have been killed in Naxalism-related incidents, as opposed to 61 in 2014. “Of these, 19 have died in operations and 10 in IED blasts. There have been 160 encounters, while 203 IEDs have been recovered,” a police officer said.