CRPF deploys 7,000 additional troops to Bastar

Nearly 7,000 CRPF troops — serving in different states currently — will be sent to Naxal hotbed Bastar in Chhattisgarh as part of the home ministry's efforts to enhance the boots on the ground situation in the region. This will mean seven additional battalions will head to Bastar. Currently, the CRPF has about 30 battalions deployed in Chhattisgarh and serves as the main force carrying out anti-Naxal operations.

This will be done by pulling out the force serving in other Naxal areas of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, as the situation there has relatively improved. Troops on internal security duty in Uttar Pradesh will also be diverted to Bastar, after the Union home ministry directed the Central Reserve Police Force to redeploy based on current assessments.

With no option of pulling out troops from J&K and Northeast, where CRPF is also deployed, these were the only states available.

The CRPF had previously communicated to the home ministry that more force in the heavily Naxal-affected Bastar region are needed to make inroads in their territory and to flush out the armed rebels, sources said.

The Centre has also asked the Chhattisgarh government to provide logistics and accommodation for these new incoming units. Keeping in mind that Bastar remains the biggest challenge against Naxals, the decision to increase the numbers has been taken, source said.

South Bastar, borders Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

ADDED HANDS

This will mean seven additional battalions will head to Bastar. Currently, the CRPF has about 30 battalions deployed in Chhattisgarh and serves as the main force carrying out anti-Naxal operations.