Security forces are penetrating deeper into Naxal affected areas and jungles and they will keep hitting their strongholds, the chief of the lead anti- Maoist operations force CRPF said a day before he hangs up his boots.
Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) chief Pranay Sahay, who will retire tomorrow after heading the paramilitary force for more than 10 months, also asserted that it is no more possible for the red rebels to ambush and attack security forces like the deadly 2010 Dantewada ambush as the forces are now familiar with the terrain and are better trained.
CRPF had faced its biggest ever setback in anti-Naxal operations when 75 of its men and one Chhattisgarh police personnel were killed in a lethal attack by Maoists in the red stronghold of Tadmetla in south Bastar.
"The Naxals are losing out heavily. They are perturbed and I can assure that attacks like Dantewada are no more a possibility. The forces now know the terrain, they are better quipped and trained," Sahay said.
CRPF is the mainstay for anti-Naxal operations as it has deployed over 85,000 personnel for the task in various states.
The CRPF boss said anti-Naxal operations in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh need to be intensified to get better results. He complimented West Bengal for containing the Left Wing Extremism menace in the state.
The DG said all the security forces deployed for combating Naxalites are gaining momentum.
He, however, said state police forces do have deficiencies at various levels which the respective governments are trying to address.
Sahay also gave figures to buttress his point.
"The fact that we are hitting Naxals increasingly is evident from the number of incidents as well as the number of deaths at the hands of the Naxals. From an all-time high of 2,258 incidents (1,005 deaths) in 2010, now it has come down to (till June) 590 incidents where 202 deaths took place," he said.
