CRPF creates new operations base in Chhattisgarh’s Maoist stronghold

Raipur/New Delhi, Feb 16 (PTI) The CRPF has opened a new operations base in the heart of a strong Maoist corridor in Chhattisgarh’s south Bastar region as part of its expanding footprint into core Left Wing Extremism-affected areas of the state.

The forward operating base at ‘Pujari Kanker’ in the Bijapur district was established on February 13 by the 196th and 205th CoBRA battalion of the force along with assistance from various other units of the paramilitary force deployed in and around the area, officials said.

The remote area where the forward operating base (FOB) has been established is surrounded by hills and houses training camps, weapons and ammunition dump and rations units of the Maoists from the south and west Bastar divisions, the officials said.

A commando of the CoBRA unit of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast when this FOB was being created.

This is a challenging area as it serves as the operations centre of the 1st battalion of the armed Maoist cadres, a senior officer operating in the area told PTI.

A tall red-coloured memorial erected by the Maoists in memory of their killed cadres was demolished by the CRPF by deploying a heavy earth-moving machine, he said.

This base is the 13th FOB in the latest series of these centres being created as part of the Union government’s declaration of ending the menace of left-wing extremism from the country by March 2026, the officer said.

This base will follow a few more before the annual tactical counter-offensive campaign (TCOC) of the Maoists kicks off, he said.

The TCOC is undertaken by Naxals in summer to attack security forces as forests go dry and trees shed leaves allowing a long range of view.

A second officer said the CRPF unit that established the base has begun its job of engaging with the locals as it conducted a medical camp where 70 locals were treated.

In Chhattisgarh, the CRPF is opening more and more FOBs to expand the reach of the security forces and administration so that the influence of Maoists in remote areas weans away.

It has created more than 40 FOBs in Chhattisgarh over the past three-four years as the toughest anti-Naxal operations combat remains concentrated in the southern region of the state called Bastar, which borders Odisha and Telangana.