New Delhi, Nov 11 (IANS): In a bid to fill the security vacuums in the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) areas of the country, the officials in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has said that the more forward operation bases (FOBs) will be set up to increase its operational dominance in the so-called ‘Red Corridor region.
According to CRPF officials, the force has 34 operative FOBs in the LWE region and 25 more will be added by the next year.
Out of the proposed 25 new bases, 10 will be set up in Chhattisgarh, six in Jharkhand, one each in Odisha and Telangana, seven in Maharashtra, including the Garhchiroli area, and one in Telangana.
The lands for constructing the FOBs have been identified where work will begin soon, the officials said, adding that this will further help the force penetrate deep into the hardcore areas of Maoist dominance.
The FOBs will be better fortified while the security forces will be equipped with the latest weapons, bullet and land mine proof vehicles and better medical facilities.
A source in the operational team said that most of the casualties take place because late medical treatment causes deaths in many cases. So better treatment has been planned at these forward bases.
As of now, only minor operations are being performed by the paramedics in most of the base camps, and in case of multiple bullet injuries or landmine blasts, the injured troopers are airlifted to the nearby bigger hospitals. The new FOBs will have better medical treatment facilities.
Amid the decreasing footprints of Maoists in the ‘Red Corridor', the central forces will carry out well-coordinated offensive operations against them in Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Odisha soon, the sources indicated.
There has been a substantial decline in Maoist attacks in the past decade. In 2009, a total of 2,258 incidents were reported, which dropped to 665 in 2020, a substantial decrease of about 70 per cent.
Similarly, deaths in these incidents have also decreased as about 1,005 deaths were reported in 2010, which came down to 183 in 2020.
The officials also said that 13 Maoists have been killed this year, 603 have been apprehended, while 486 Maoists have surrendered so far in the Left Wing Extremism areas.