New Delhi, Apr 14 (IANS): The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on Wednesday said that a total of 56 Forward Operating Bases have been established in Maoist-affected areas till March 2022 and 25 to 27 more are planned to come up by the end of this year.

So far 20 FOBs have been established in Chhattisgarh, 18 in Jharkhand, 11 in Odisha, six in Madhya Pradesh, and one each in Maharashtra, Telangana, and Bihar, CRPF officials said, adding that five FOBs have been set up this year till March 14.

Out of the proposed new bases, 10 more will be set up in Chhattisgarh, six in Jharkhand, seven in Maharashtra, including the Gadchiroli area, and one each in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, they said.

The lands for constructing the FOBs have already been identified where work will begin soon, the officials said, adding that this will further help the force penetrate deep into the hard-core areas of Maoist dominance.

The new FOBs established in 2021 and 2022 are better fortified while the security forces will be equipped with the latest weapons, ammunitions and land mine proof vehicles and better medical facilities, they said.

A source in the operational team deployed in the Maoist areas said that these bases will have better medical treatment facilities in case the security personnel gets injured during the anti-Maoist operations. He also said that most of the casualties take place because of late evacuation and delay in getting treatment that sometimes results in death also. So better primary treatment can be managed at these FOBs, he said.