Roving lights sighted over CRPF camps in Chhattisgarh, Maoist drone suspected

The gleaming light was consistently seen going hither and thither, and later withdrawn abruptly but there was no accompanying sound as usually heard with drones in operation.
For representational purposes (File Photo | EPS)
For representational purposes (File Photo | EPS)

RAIPUR:  Roving lights in the airspace of a couple of highly secured base camps of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were sighted for the three consecutive nights leaving the security personnel clueless in the core Maoist-affected Sukma district, south Chhattisgarh, about 460 km south of Raipur.

Flying at a height of around 300 metres, the gleaming light was consistently seen going hither and thither, and later withdrawn abruptly but there was no accompanying sound as usually heard with drones in operation.

“Such sighting of lights (or suspected drone) during the night hours has never been reported earlier in and around the CRPF base camps across the Maoist-affected Bastar region. It was sighted for three days at around 7 PM. We have sent an alert to the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the State Intelligence Bureau (SIB). Though it’s not yet confirmed, there remains a suspicion of these flying object might be Maoist drone. It was seen flying over the CRPF camps of Palodi and Kistagram separated by an aerial distance of 5 km. It’s under investigation”, the CRPF spokesperson B C Patra told this newspaper.

The Bastar police too confirmed of such shining lights being spotted over the CRPF base camps in the restricted areas.
“We are verifying and trying to find it out. There are speculations but no confirmation yet. If it’s true then it’s a matter of concern”, said Sunderraj P, deputy inspector general of police (Anti-Maoist Operation) when asked about the flickering lights and suspected drone over the prohibited CRPF camp.

The vigilance in the area has been substantially increased and the security personnel asked to remain on high alert, the officials in Bastar told the Express.

Unconfirmed reports cited that the villagers had earlier seen such wandering lights and objects but they apparently didn’t take it too seriously thinking they were operated by the forces.

Sukma continues to be among the seven worst strife-torn districts in the conflict zone of Bastar.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com