For first time, NSG deployed along Telangana-Chhattisgarh border to curb Maoists

KHAMMAM: To curb Maoist activities along the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border, the Centre on the request of the State government deployed National Security Guards ( NSG) to hunt down the Maoists in Bhadrachalam Agency area.

According to official sources, as many as 100 NSG commandos have been put into operation in the Bhadrachalam Agency area on an experimental basis. More NSG forces will be deployed depending on the success percentage of the existing force. According to sources, one battalion consisting of 300 commandos has been allotted to Bhadradri-Kothagudem district.

Normally, NSG commandos are used for VVIP security as they are trained for that purpose. But the Union government is taking curbing the Maoist menace as a prestigious issue and using all options available to it.Till now, the government has been using Greyhounds, special party forces, and CRPF for hunting Maoists but the Centre now wants to use NSG for better results.

Sources said that the Centre believes that NSG will be able to work more effectively. The recent murder of Irpa Ramudu, deputy sarpanch of Kurnavalli by Maoists, seems to have forced the government to take the decision of using NSG forces.Speaking to TNIE, a top official in Bhadradri Kothagudem said about 100 commandos are in the operation on an experimental basis. “We are monitoring their work closely. More forces will join soon,” he said.

Police forces have in the recent days noticed an increase in Maoist activity along the Telangana border. Sources say some of the Maoists may have crossed over from Chhattisgarh to Bhadradri-Kothagudem, Mulugu, Jayashankar-Bhupalapally and Adilabad districts. After the killing of Irpa Ramudu, police have intensified combing operations.

While the CRPF, Greyhound and special party forces are working to tackle the Maoists in Telangana, in Chhattisgarh it is the CRPF, State police, Cobra and district reserve guards who participate in combing operations.

Meanwhile, following the arrest of Rajitha, the Cherla commander of Communist Party of India (Maoist) and four others, its party secretary alleged that the police had attacked party members, including Rajitha, in Chhattishgarh and Telangana. She is the wife of CPI (Maoist) State leader Damodar. The letter claimed that Rajitha was ill and expressed a concern that the five might be killed by police in a fake encounter.