Sukma killings stall road work in Chhattisgarh's LWE areas

CRPF reluctant to protect ongoing road projects anymore; wants its men for anti-naxal war instead

The killing of 37 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans during the past one-and-a-half months in Chhattisgarh has taken a toll on the state's road projects, even as security forces have reportedly begun planning a major offensive against the rebels.

In two major incidents that took place on March 11 and April 24 in restive Sukma district, Naxalites killed 12 and 25 jawans respectively. The jawans were providing security cover to workers engaged in road construction in a pocket considered to be the stronghold of the rebels.

The Chhattisgarh government had set a target to construct 698 kilometers of road in the areas affected by the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) by 2018. Of this, 435 kilometers of road, or over 60 per cent, had been built despite several security challenges.

A top intelligence wing official told Business Standard that CRPF had expressed reluctance to engage its men in providing security cover for road works, and would rather use them for anti-naxal operations.

State officials confirmed that the road works had been put on hold, but did not cite any reason for the decision.

Special Director General of Police (anti-Naxal operations) D M Awasthi told a news agency that the Road Opening Party (ROP) duties have been suspended for next two weeks across Bastar. “We will concentrate on operations now and all the forces will be engaged in that only,” he added.  

The indication given by Awasthi links to the serious of development taking place that signal’s major offensive drive against the rebels in near future. The senior security advisor in the ministry of home affairs (MHA), K Vijay Kumar is camping in Sukma as part of the exercise.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval will be holding video-conference with the officials engaged in the anti-Naxal operations on May 8 to note the ground report. Later, the MHA had convened an important and crucial meeting on May 8 to review and redesign strategy to deal with the red army.