Ahead of elections, Four states to launch joint anti-Naxal ops along borders

Nagpur: Intense operations are set to be launched in the coming days involving security forces of 10 bordering districts of four states — Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana.
The initiative will be taken to thwart Maoists in their strongholds, especially in central India’s Dandakaranya where elections are due within one-and-a-half months.

The decision to join hands against the Maoists was taken to ensure free polling in Chhattisgarh (November 12 and 20), Madhya Pradesh (November 28) and Telangana (December 7) during an interstate co-ordination meeting of senior officials of police department and central paramilitary forces.

The meeting was held at Unconventional Operations Training Centre (UOTC) at Surabardi on Wednesday.

The meeting was held in the backdrop of known opposition from Maoists, who try to disrupt the polling process. Maoists have already upped their ante against election in Chhattisgarh calling for its boycott and by indulging in violence, including an IED blast on Thursday in which one central paramilitary jawan was injured.

The decision was also taken to ensure that the security forces of Gadchiroli and Gondia (Maharashtra), Mancherial, Komram Bhim and Bhopalapatnam (Telangana), Rajnandgaon, Kanker, Bijapur and Narayanpur (Chhattishagarh) and Balaghat (MP) stay on high alert during the polling phase.

DIG (Naxal range) Ankush Shinde, who was part of the meeting, said the joint border sealing activities will be conducted during the preparation and on polling days.

“Inputs on Maoists strength, formations, current status and other such details of the respective states were discussed and exchanged. There was a consensus to join hands to fight them along with other crimes related to elections, including ferrying of cash and liquor,” Shinde said.

“Maharashtra’s forces would be engaged in extending support even as there would be no polling in the state,” he said.

The DIG said the focus of the meeting was to prepare strategies to take on the Maoists, who will try to derail the democratic process.

“There would be checks and nakabandis at strategic points along the state borders involving security forces of the neighbouring states,” he said.

“Interstate operations will be launched along the state borders following the shared inputs. All the police stations and posts at the bordering districts will be on alert during the polling phase. They will conduct various security exercises in collaboration with each other,” he added.

The meeting, which was also attended by key officers engaged in spearheading operations, also focused on the strategies and planning in sensitive zones of Maoists in central India. Officials from intelligence security wings too were part of the meeting.