RAIPUR: In tribal Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, where Maoist violence casts a long shadow, the Vishnudeo Sai govt has embarked on a bold new strategy – push deeper into insurgent hotspots and set up police camps there to ramp up the pressure on Maoists.
This isolates insurgents, confines them to ever shrinking pockets and clears space to accelerate development projects.
A dozen such camps have come up since the Sai govt came to power.
The forces gained a psychological edge when they set up a camp in Puwarti, the village of Maoist leader Madvi Hidma, close to the Telangana border. This is the region where an operation to nab Hidma ended in bloodbath in April 2021, with 23 security personnel being killed and 33 wounded.Undeterred, forces are back in Puwarti. And there to stay.
The effect is already visible. For the first time, the Tricolour was unfurled in Puwarti this Republic Day. Based on the strategies of the Centre and state, Bastar police have established 14 security camps since November 2023, nearly all of them in once ‘no-go areas’.
Cornered, Maoists are lashing out at police and villagers. A Naxal attack on Jan 30 killed three jawans on the opening day of the security camp in Tekulgudem, just 5km from the Puwarti camp. Maoists have murdered 11 villagers in Bastar since Jan this year.
Police camps bringing positive change to once ‘no-go areas’ in Chhattisgarh
“Maoists suffered heavy casualties (in the Jan 30 clash) but admitted to the loss of two cadres. Maoists launched a massive attack on Chintavagu camp on Jan 16, which our troops defeated, and Maoists admitted to three casualties. The good thing is that unlike earlier, none of the recently established camps saw any major protests, not even in Puwarti, Tekulgudem, Gundam or Duler, which were Maoist strongholds,” said IG (Bastar range) P Sundarraj.
“The feedback from locals indicates that they are looking forward to positive change. They are fed up with the anti-development, inhumane, and outdated ideology of Maoists,” the IG added.”The fight against Left-Wing Extremism has reached its final and decisive phase,” Sundarraj said. Officers engaged in anti-Naxal operations feel that these new camps would be a game-changer in south Bastar Abujhmarh.