What is Danteshwari Ladake: Danteshwari Ladake, a lesser-known all-women anti-Maoist Commando unit, came into the picture after an encounter between the extremists and a joint team of DRG and STF in Gonderas jungle in Aranpur police station area made headlines with TV anchors shouting at the top of their voice. This platoon of district reserve guard (DRG) named as Danteshwari Ladake (Danteshwari fighters) were out for operation in the jungles of Malangir area committee of CPI (Maoist) in which a BJP MLA, Doordarshan journalist and about a dozen policemen were killed in last six months. The women commandos proved their mettle in the encounter that broke out around 5 am on May 8, 2019, and the operation proved to be successful. Reports also said bodies of two Maoists were recovered following the exchange of fire between Maoists and security forces in Gonderas jungle. Apart from that one INSAS rifle and one 12 bore weapon with ammunition and other incriminating materials were recovered from the possession of Maoists.
Since both the Maoists and the security forces are involved in a psychological warfare and trying to defeat each other outside the combat zones of Chhattisgarh, the formation of Danteshwari Ladake is itself an achievement because some of its members are drawn from the erstwhile Salwa Judum movement while the unit includes at least 10 surrendered women Maoists while others are locally recruited personnel. This move is more than enough to down the morale of the Maoists who are on a recruitment spree to increase the number of their cadres. The voluntary involvement of locals in anti-Maoist operations also indicates that people living in the insurgency-afflicted areas are not supporting extremist ideology in the name of the fight for equality as the revolution that has made little progress beyond a spate of violence and killings.
Terming the move as a unique example of women empowerment, Bastar IG, Vivekananda Sinha said the women police commandos are at par with their men counterparts and he is confident that they will they do a good job. The 30-member all women Anti-Maoist Commando has been deployed in the Maoist-affected areas of Bastar and Dantewada to battle Left-Wing extremism, currently. The all-women commando unit, which is headed by a deputy superintendent of police, has been given special training in jungle combat, firearm operations.
DSP Dineshwari Nand is the platoon commander of Danteshwari Ladake who earned accolades for their well-executed strikes in the Maoists’ self-proclaimed liberated zones like Abhujmad and south Sukma.
Danteshwari Ladake’ has been formed on the basis of the C-60 commando unit of Maharashtra. The C-60 commandos, conceptualised by then additional DG KP Raghuvanshi when he was SSP of Gadchiroli in 1989-90, played a key role in eliminating the 39 Maoist cadre in two encounters in the same area. The unit has a tagline ‘Veerbhogya Vasundhara’ or (The Brave Rule the World).
As many as 16 members of the C-60 commando unit were killed after Maoists triggered an IED device in Lendari in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district on May 1, 2019. Maoists ambushed the policemen after the vehicle (MH33T0483) they were travelling in was blown up due to the impact of the blast. A total of twenty-five commandos were travelling in the vehicle. Reports said a fierce gunbattle is still going on between the forces and Maoists in Gadchiroli. After the attack, the state has cancelled the Maharashtra Day celebrations in view of the tragedy.
