The strategic technical command centre of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), has been shifted to the Naxal hotbed of Bastar in Chhattisgarh, in order to provide security forces an enhanced aerial surveillance to conduct anti-Maoist operations.
The centre, with about three dozen flying assets of various categories, has been recently moved “lock, stock and barrel” from the steel city of Bhilai in Durg district of the State to Jagdalpur in south Bastar, in vicinity of the worst Naxal violence-affected districts like Sukma and Dantewada.
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has deployed about 40,000 troops, including teams of its special guerrilla action force Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), in Chhattisgarh and south Bastar area to conduct anti-Naxal operations.
“The UAV base has recently been shifted and activated in the heart of the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. The idea to shift the technical command centre is to provide quick and long haul aerial reconnaissance to the anti-Naxal operations forces on ground like the CRPF, CoBRA and the State police,” a senior security official involved in the operation said.
The UAVs were earlier flying to Bastar from Bhilai, which is about 300 km away, and hence the amount of time taken to travel would defeat the purpose of conducting timely and precise operations.
The base is jointly manned and operated by the officials of the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), and the CRPF and the paramilitary force has been tasked to secure the air strip that is used to launch these ‘birds,’ the official added.
This is the second big strategic shift of assets, after the two deadly Naxal attacks on the CRPF men in Sukma district earlier this year.
The first, the official said, was the shifting of the CRPF central zone from Kolkata to State capital Raipur, soon after 37 CRPF men were ambushed by Maoists in a span of less than two months.
The base is now being expanded to hold more UAVs, as the CRPF recently got the government sanction to have at least 300 such flying assets in its establishment, with most of them being tasked to conduct surveillance sorties in the violence-hit states.
All varieties of UAVs will operate from this base, and a joint command centre receives real-time aerial feed and imagery at the base station in Jagdalpur, the official said.
Security forces deployed for operations in Sukma and Dantewada districts, are being provided quick and latest updates on the movement of Naxals, so they can move out and plan their task in real time, he added.
“The focus of Naxal operations is the Bastar region now. Recently, one fresh battalion of the CRPF has moved in the area. It is important to provide technical intelligence inputs and information to these units to perform better, without taking casualties on their side. The UAV base exactly does that,” the official said.
