In the first such joint operation against Naxalites, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh dispatched some 1,000 police commandos to the Naxal stronghold of Bastar in Chhattisgarh where forest camps were destroyed in two separate operations last week.

In the first operation, policemen from Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra targeted Naxalites in the Abujhmad forests bordering Narayanpur in Chhattisgarh and Gadchiroli in Maharashtra. The second operation was carried out in the forests of south Bastar region by the Greyhounds, Andhra’s anti-Naxal force, and Chhattisgarh Police commandos.

Confirming the joint action in the Bastar region, Chhattisgarh Director General of Police Vishwaranjan said the security forces destroyed three big Naxalite camps and about a dozen smaller camps inside the forests.

“The two separate operations ended last week and were successful as the security forces, for the first time in several years, were able to make night halts inside these forests and initiate action against the adversary,” Vishwaranjan said. The entire action, he said, was planned and implemented by the police forces of these states and no help of the Centre was sought for the mission.

He said the action was significant as this was the first time that any major offensive action had taken place inside the Abujhmad forests. Abujhmad (locals call it the unknown forests) is considered the strongest Naxal bastion and the CPI (Maoist), which claims it is a liberated zone, runs training camps there for its cadres.

Sources said that before undertaking the operation, policemen carried out two surveys to familiarise themselves with the local terrain. In all, 200 commandos from Maharashtra, three companies of Greyhounds and some 500 Chhattisgarh policemen took part in the action which lasted for almost a week. While the Bastar operations were on, security was tightened in the districts of Rajnandgaon, Dhamtari, Mahasamund and Balaghat to prevent Naxal cadres from shifting base to these areas. Sources said Naxalite literature, daily provisions and weapons were seized in large numbers. There were no reports, however, of any casualties as the Naxalites retreated under police pressure. “Four Naxalite cadres have been arrested by the Andhra Pradesh Police and are being interrogated,” Vishwaranjan said, adding that such operations will continue. “This will now become a regular feature. We will attack and consolidate in the territory which was so far being dominated by the extremists,” he said.