Of more than 1,110 casualties among security forces, including state police and central paramilitary, recorded on the Maoist front in Chhattisgarh since the state was formed in 2000, around 550 are from Sukma alone. Nearly 75 per cent of these were recorded during the Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign, which the Maoists launch during the summer months in Dandakaranya. The Burkapal camp, where Monday’s attack took place, was set up between Chintalnar and Chintagufa by the Chhattisgarh police in 2013 to register police presence in the area that is dominated by the South Bastar battalion of the CPI (Maoist) headed by Hidma. The other battalion of the Maoists is in Abujhmad. The attack has come as a setback to the Chhattisgarh government’s efforts to check Maoist violence. As against the massive death count in Bastar, undivided Andhra Pradesh —- where most of the top Maoists came from —- recorded deaths of around 500 personnel in 40 years.
