A joint team of multiple forces are undertaking the offensive to target some senior and most-wanted Naxal commanders, official sources said.
Single-phase voting was held in Mizoram on Tuesday, while 20 constituencies in Chhattisgarh voted in the first phase of assembly elections in the state.
Of the ten police personnel who lost their lives in a Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district, five had joined the force after quitting Maoist violence, a senior official said on Thursday.
Voting for 10 constituencies was held from 7 am to 3 pm in 10 seats and from 8 am to 5 pm in the rest 10 segments under a thick security blanket of police and paramilitary personnel in the Naxalite-hit Bastar division.
Three battalions of the Border Security Force comprising more than 3,000 personnel will move across the border from Odisha to Chhattisgarh and an equal number of Indo-Tibetan Border Police units will further move into the Naxal stronghold of Abujhmad as part of a strategy to intensify anti-Maoist operations in their last bastions, official sources said.
He accused Naxalites of using tribal villagers as a shield.
Bhatnagar is expected to take charge of the CRPF later this week as he is on an official assignment in Indonesia in the capacity of NCB DG.
2019 was the Bharatiya Janata Party's breakout year, when it stretched the boundaries of what was thought possible and ended up with 303 seats on its own steam. Now it is forced to play defence, on a pitch queered by too many variables, asserts Prem Panicker.
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Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore and Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com travelled 650 km in Chhattisgarh's Sukma and Bijapur districts to report on the situation that exists 11 days after the Burkapal ambush, where 25 CRPF troops were killed by the Maoists.
Security forces help tribal woman in labour pain to safely reach hospital.
Naxalites blew up the mini-goods van in which the security personnel were travelling by using an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), police sources said.
A Greyhounds jawan sustained injuries, following which he was airlifted to Warangal and admitted to a hospital.
It's a single phase polling in Mizoram while first phase of assembly elections is underway in Chhattisgarh.
Hidma Madavi, who had a Rs 12 lakh reward on his head, was arrested without a single bullet being fired.
It had organised its 83rd anniversary event last year in Jammu after the government asked all paramilitary or CAPF to hold these events outside the national capital.
The body of Kaka Arjun (52) was found on Wednesday evening on Kongupalli-Ilmidi road in Bijapur, located more than 400 km from state capital Raipur, they said.
Contests in 13 seats would attract most attention during the Chhattisgarh assembly elections as they feature prominent leaders of the Congress and BJP.
The personnel belonging to the CRPF's elite Commando Battalion for Resolute Action unit, the District Reserve Guard and the Special Task Force were involved in the operation.
In a major joint offensive, separate joint teams of security forces, comprising over 2,000 personnel, had launched an anti-Naxal operation from Bijapur and Sukma districts in the South Bastar forests, considered as the Maoist stronghold, on Friday night.
The Chhattisgarh police, however, said the claim seemed to be an attempt to mislead the local population, and the security forces never compromise on the safety of the local people during their operations.
Women, children and other family members of the deceased were seen crying while women security personnel were trying to console them.
The PMG was announced by the Union home ministry on the occasion of the 74th Republic Day, being celebrated on January 26 (Thursday).
A search operation was underway on Sunday to trace 18 security personnel who went missing after a fierce gun-battle with Naxals in a forest along the border of Bijapur-Sukma districts in Chhattisgarh, police said.
The driver of a Scorpio that was right behind the vehicle targeted by Naxalites with an improvised explosive device (IED) in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district on Wednesday said he won't be able to forget the day long as he lives.
The Congress needs to reorganise itself at the grassroots, infuse younger blood, and have more boots on the ground. Just offering freebies is not the answer anymore. Leadership matters, asserts Ramesh Menon.
The explosive, however, remained "undetected" during the demining exercise conducted a day before the attack on Wednesday, they said.
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Many IEDs explode even when the troops are on foot and their trigger mechanism gets activated just due to the pressure of the feet. These incidents have injured more than 100 personnel over the last two years, the officer said.
An elusive figure, Hidma is a top leader of the outlawed Naxal outfit CPI (Maoist) and has been on the radar of security agencies for many years.
Globally recognised organisations including the CDC, the Clinton Foundation, and domestic pharmaceutical and health care companies have sent their teams to visit the centres and study the concept, reports R Krishna Das.
BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi dubbed the incident as 'unfortunate' and said 'the CM should have shown sensitivity in this regard'.
Moti Ram Awalam (30) was an active member of "PLGA Battalion No 1", considered the strongest military formation of the outlawed movement, headed by wanted Maoist "commander" Hidma, and was carrying a reward of Rs 8 lakh on his head, a police official said.
As per preliminary information, constable Reetesh Ranjan fired at his colleagues with his service weapon, an AK-47 rifle, the official said.
Gautam Gambhir to bear educational expenses of Sukma bravehearts' children.
Delh BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said that the every heart is filled with grief over the killing of 25 CRPF men in Sukma and the party will not celebrate the victory.
Earlier, in a major joint offensive, separate teams of nearly 600 personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard (DRG), Special Task Force (STF) and Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) -- an elite unit of Central Reserve Police Force, launched an anti-Naxal operation from three sides towards Elmagunda after getting inputs about a huge gathering of ultras there on Saturday.
Roads are of great importance to win the war against the rebels in Sukma
The operation was conducted between June 23 and 25, the police said.
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