CRPF enters Naxal-dominated Abujmaad after 1947

A first-of-its-kind anti-Naxal operation has given a strategic entry for paramilitary forces in the Abujmaad forests in Chhattisgarh, considered the Maoist headquarters where there has been no presence of government for ages. Armed with modern gadgets, over 3,000 men from CRPF and its elite strike unit--CoBRA, the para-military forces and state police--combed the forests spread over 4,000 sq km and joining neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra during the month that just ended.
Codenamed--"Maad", "Kilam" and "Podku"--the operation was monitored by CRPF Director General K Vijay Kumar and his Inspector General (Operation) in Chhattisgarh, Pankaj Singh, who decided on the plans to make forays in the jungles. Armed with a British-era survey of the jungle, they decided that the men will enter from three sides - Narayanpur- Gadchiroli (Maad) with point of contact at Jatwar in the heart of the jungle, Bhairamgarh-Matwara (Podku) and Mardapal- Chotedonger (Kilam). "In all, the operations which comprised CRPF officers, CoBRA and some state police -a total of about 3000 personnel- their movements were monitored round-the-clock at make-shift headquarters," says 49-year-old Singh after the successful operation in which over 33 Maoists were arrested.(PTI)