New Delhi/Raipur, Oct 30 The Chhattisgarh government has directed CRPF units deployed in the erstwhile Naxal violence-affected regions of Chhattisgarh to undertake a coordinated and large-scale de-mining operation to unearth and defuse IEDs, thereby averting civilian casualties.
Officials told PTI that they made this decision during a recent coordination meeting at the Chhattisgarh Police headquarters in Raipur, which focused on strategising security force operations following India’s declaration in March of ending Maoist extremism.
They said the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has been tasked with de-mining all paved and unpaved roads, dirt tracks and jungle areas in the erstwhile Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected regions of Bastar, as it has the largest presence and necessary equipment for such operations.
The central force has over 24 battalions in the region, equipped with bomb and Improvised Explosive Device (IED) detection and disposal kits, sniffer dogs and armoured vehicles to undertake such large-scale operations in the seven districts of Bastar, once the worst Maoist violence-affected region.
Each CRPF company is required to sanitise approximately 6-8 kilometres around its location, and senior commanders must supervise these operations on-site, officials added.
A CRPF battalion comprises over 1,000 personnel and has six operational companies, each with a combat strength of about 72-80 personnel.
It is estimated that hundreds of IEDs, planted and buried by the Naxals to target security forces, remain in this region. According to official data, the security forces unearthed 492 IEDs in 2025, 151 in 2024 and 142 in 2023.
A state government officer said the CRPF units deployed in Bastar know the area “like the back of their hands as they conducted operations in these areas when armed Naxals used to be present. It is important to ensure that civilians and security forces can move freely in these areas without the fear of an IED blast.
“It is well known how IEDs killed and maimed hundreds of people when LWE violence was wreaking havoc in these regions,” the officer said.
A senior CRPF officer in Delhi emphasised that each battalion and company commander in Bastar has been instructed to ensure strict compliance and monitoring of the de-mining efforts, as these areas can only be considered ‘Naxal-free’ in a true sense when people can move about without fear.
Official records show that multiple fatal and non-fatal casualties have occurred due to IEDs since March 31, when India declared itself Naxal violence-free.
Four District Reserve Guard (DRG) personnel were killed in May during a de-mining exercise they were undertaking along the borders of the Kanker and Narayanpur districts.
A civilian was killed near the KGH Hills area along the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border in September while two-three civilians were injured near the Neelam Sarai waterfall in Sukma and Nambi forest in Bijapur district when they stepped on an IED.
(PTI News)
