The 150 battalion of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and 206 Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) personnel celebrated the 73rd Independence Day along with locals in the Naxal-affected Kasalpad village here on Thursday.
Tricolour flag was unfurled by the CRPF personnel and the villagers. Tricolour unfurled in Kasalpada for the first time since independence. Dozens of children present on the occasion were seen waving tricolour flag.
CoBRA 206 and CRPF 150 battalion deployed in Chintagufa were out on an operation yesterday when a blast took place near Kasalpada. No personnel was injured and the troop decided to celebrate the Independence Day in Kasalpada itself.
14 CRPF personnel have lost their lives in an attack by Naxals on December 1, 2014, at the Kasalpad village in Sukma district.
CoBRA specializes in for guerrilla/jungle warfare type operations for dealing with extremists and insurgents. Sukma district located in the southern tip of Chhattisgarh is the hot-bed of Naxalite activities with encounters between security forces and Naxalites being of common occurrence.