1,500 security men behind most successful anti-Naxal op in Chhattisgarh

A 10-km motorcycle ride through fields and dirt track followed by a 12-km climb of a hilly terrain take one to the site of Chhattisgarh’s most successful counter-insurgency operation that eliminated 31 Naxalites.

About 1,500 security personnel covered this arduous route as part of their 48-hour operation in the forest along Narayanpur and Dantewada districts border to inflict a crushing blow to Maoists, said an official on Saturday.

This was the highest number of fatalities suffered by Maoists in a single operation since the state’s creation 24 years ago and the offensive comes more than five months after 29 Naxalites, including higher-ranking cadres, were neutralised in an encounter with security personnel in Kanker district.

Nearly 1,500 jawans of District Reserve Guard (DRG) from Dantewada and Narayanpur and Special Task Force were involved in the offensive, Dantewada Additional Superintendent of Police RK Barman said.

The crackdown was launched based on inputs about the presence of Maoists belonging to their company No. 6 and east Bastar division on the hills of Gavadi, Thulthuli, Nendur and Rengawaya villages, he said.

The operation, launched on October 3 and lasting for two days, turned out to be the biggest ever successful counter-insurgency operation in the state, he said. The gunfight broke out between security forces and Naxals at 1 pm on Friday and ended late in the evening in a forest.