Since the Burkapal ambush incident took the life of 26 CRPF officials, the government is adamant to put an end to this revolt. Especially, the Maoists who take refuge deep inside the Sukma forest in Chhattisgarh. The CRPF will soon send out 2000 CoBRA Commandos to retrieve the arsenal stolen by the Maoists and disable their power.
The paramilitary is rounded up 20 to 25 companies of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA). This is to mobilize the commandos from their locations in West Bengal, Telangana, Bihar, and Madya Pradesh and gather them at the Sukma region to take action.
One of the officials on this project revealed, “The CoBRA does operations based only on intelligence inputs and has been raised as a team of highly trained commandos who neutralize the enemy and destroy their hideouts with minimal collateral damage. The CoBRA teams will specifically be used to increase the kill ratio of the forces and deliver a heavy blow to the Naxals TCOC (Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign) campaign.”
The TCOC is a campaign executed by the Maoist in the Summer every year to kill the security forces and take their weapons to increase their arsenal. It has been reported that out of the 154 CoBRA teams, 44 have already been deployed to the Bastar region in Chhattisgarh.
The official also explained,”In the present circumstances where there are no regular battalions to spare and operations by them have faced reverses, it is the CoBRA that will pave the way. They will undertake special operations to decimate the Naxals’ manpower and firepower.”
At present, the government has a total of 120 flying hours per month from the Indian Air Force. But in a time of serious need, the official has revealed that they will undertake as many as 160 hours from the Indian Air Force. This will aid the CoBRA teams as they venture out in the woods to defang the Maoists.
News has also been given that the CRPF will be given extra troops who are well trained in handling improvised explosive devices (IEDs.)
