Maoists training on Odisha-CG border to down copters

Reported by Ranjan Rath
Malkangiri, Jan 11:

In a bid to foil the ongoing air surveillance by the central para-military forces to locate their destination, the Maoists have begun ‘attack helicopter’ training inside the dense forest cover in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh bordering Odisha.

Intelligence about the ongoing training camp has put both the Odisha and Chhattisgarh governments on their toes, reports said. Video footage provided by the intelligence wing (of which OST has a copy) shows that the Maoists are training to attack a dummy helicopter.

A specialist team of Maoist military experst is imparting training to the Maoists on how to attack a helicopter. As per the intelligence input, the training is underway in more than 20 Maoist camps inside the forest.

It may be noted that the Centre has decided to deploy Indian Air Force helicopters for aerial surveillance to locate the Maoists in the forest area in Bastar and Dantewada districts since venturing into the forest on foot is fraught with grave risks as events in the past have proved.

The security establishment believes a targeted operation after aerially locating the rebel hide outs will be a much better and more effective strategy to take on left wing extremists in their den.

The Maoists had killed a sergeant after they attacked a MI-17 helicopter in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh in 2008. In December last year, they had attacked an IAF helicopter while it was carrying injured CRPF jawans from their base camp at Chintalana in Sukma district.

Talking to OST, Bastar SP Ajay Yadav said; “To counter the Maoists, operation along the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border would be intensified with deployment of additional para-military forces.”