Centre bracing for its biggest anti-Naxal operation under this government

NEW DELHI: The Centre is bracing for its biggest anti-Naxal operation under this government — it’s a call that involves launching a large-scale assault into the heart of Naxal stronghold in Konta block of Sukma, Chhattisgarh, where the heavily armed Battalion number 1, comprising 700-1,000 hardcore battle-hardy Maoist cadre, is entrenched.

In the first flush after two attacks on CRPF road protection parties last month, which saw over 30 soldiers killed, three important revisions have been made in standard operating procedures for security forces. First, officially frame road protection as an operational mission; second, the road may be a linear project for construction purposes but security deployment must be circular, which means in concentric patterns around the project not merely along the road alignment; and third, secure whole area up to 2.5 km on either side of any CRPF camps.

These decisions now have the go ahead of the operational joint commands, which means road construction can resume with better security planning and preparedness. But that’s still a solution only to the immediate problem.

The real political call, one which is set to figure at the anti-Naxal strategy meet here on Monday, is whether or not to launch an all-out offensive into the Maoist den. And by no means, can this be accomplished by way of a surgical strike.




This will have to be a dogged campaign and may even get prolonged to minimise collateral damage. Yet, by all accounts, this campaign is staring at the face of the political leadership after the way in which 25 CRPF men were killed in Burkhapal village on April 25.

The roads, as they are planned, form a fan-like network around Sukma leading up to Jagargunda in Konta block. There are last mile missing pieces of this network where construction is yet to begin, but security forces have been asked to progress deeper to convey intent.

In the last couple of weeks, state police has rounded up villagers and killed a few Maoists while moving deeper into Maoist territory from three sides around Konta. These are initial probes after the April 25 attacks, meant to test the ground in case a major offensive is given a go ahead. For all counter-insurgency theories doing the rounds, the only practical solution is a state police-led offensive. Let’s not forget that even CRPF is present in state as an operations group. It has no legal powers to arrest, interrogate or even detain individuals. In fact, CRPF wants more state police personnel attached to its camps, both as guides and tools of law enforcement.

The Chhattisgarh police is a better trained unit now with over 2,000 of them already having received training by Army in its School of Jungle Warfare in Warangte, Mizoram. They have shown an improved track record in terms of casualties and operational success, which only augurs well for larger responsibilities. In Punjab too, it was eventually the state police which rooted out militancy from the state.

In many ways, this is a turning point in anti-Naxal operations, where a situation has arisen for the Centre and state to realign police deployment and make that decisive push into Sukma. This has the potential to shift the power balance in a manner that could open up space for other forms of political engagements.