NEW DELHI: As part of ‘Operation Prahar’, the forces have been entering inside Naxal zones in Chhattisgarh and are coming to know about new facts by finding memorials built by Left-Wing-Extremists (LWEs) in the memory of their cadres, who were killed in different anti-extremist operations, officials said on Tuesday.
The officials said that as the personnel of combined forces – Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and Chhattisgarh police – are finding these so-called memorials, they are demolishing them as a mark of their dominance in the area.
“In the process, the forces are now coming to know about the unknown casualties on the Naxal side. By building memorials the leadership of the extremists’ cadres tried to keep their members’ morale high by telling them that they fought bravely against the armed forces,” a senior official said.
Earlier this month, a team of combined forces managed to enter Morpalli village, which is considered to be Naxal’s core area in Sukma district of the state. During searches, CRPF troops found a Naxal memorial commemorating their cadres killed in the counter offensive during the Tadmetla ambush, which took place on April 6, 2010,” the official said.
On a close scrutiny of the memorial, the CRPF troops found that the names of eight Naxals killed in that incident were engraved, the official said, adding that this indicated intense fight between forces and Naxals during the worst attack on them, where 76 CRPF jawans were killed.
At that point in time, the forces could not ascertain the number of casualties on the Naxals side, as they had not announced anything in this regard, he said.
In 2010, the Naxals ambushed the CRPF troopers, when they were returning after a three-day anti-Maoist operation. The team was taking a break at around 6 am after traveling all night when the attack happened. Around 1,000 Maoists positioned on the neighbouring hilltop attacked the forces, as they were aware of the CRPF movement.
Similarly, last week, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) destroyed a Naxal memorial in the Ekpad area of Kasturmeta. The ITBP stated that during an area domination patrol operation from Kasturmeta, Narayanpur in Chhattisgarh, they sent a strong message to the left extremists by destroying their memorial built in front of the primary school in the area. The officials said the memorial was built in remembrance of Naxals killed in an attack five years ago, in which they had claimed no casualties.
Names engraved
The CRPF troops found that the names of eight Naxals killed in that incident were engraved, the official said, adding that this indicated intense fight between forces and Naxals during the worst attack on them, where 76 CRPF jawans were killed. At that point in time, the forces could not ascertain the number of casualties on the Naxals side, as they had not announced anything in this regard, he said.