NEW DELHI: The Central Reserve Police Force has begun overhauling the command set up in a major way and has decided to shift the Central Zone headquarters from Kolkata to Raipur.
The shifting of headquarters was done with a view to maximise operational efficiency and kill-ratio besides improving coordination with the State police top brass. The Central Zone of the CRPF is headed by a Special Director General-rank officer who supervises the operations across the Naxal-hit states including Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.
Besides the Special Director General, the Additional Director General has also been asked to shift to Raipur. At present, an Inspector General-rank officer is based in Raipur for supervising the operations.
The move to post the two top officials in Raipur is expected to help improve decision-making in operations. CRPF is engaged in a significant manner in anti-Naxal operations with close to 40 battalions of the paramilitary deployed in Chhattisgarh alone. Officials said the Central Zone covers the entire Naxal-affected areas barring Gadhchiroli in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh where violence has waned over the years.
According to a Union Home Ministry report, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand accounted for 68.5 per cent of the violent incidents and 69 per cent of deaths. Bihar followed by Odisha and Maharashtra accounted for 12.3 per cent, 8.2 per cent, and 6.9 per cent incidents respectively in 2016.