Following the completion of polling in three states, security forces have begun moving to the Naxal-affected areas where a major offensive against the ultra-left organisations is being planned from next month.

Government sources said that by early next week, the force deployment would be complete in the six districts selected for the first phase of the operation against the Naxalites.

The six districts are spread over two geographical areas, one along the border of Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra and the other around the tri-junction of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa.

In addition to the Central forces already stationed in the Naxal-affected states, 15 additional battalions have been summoned for the operation that is expected to be a long-haul process.

Apart from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), which has been leading the fight against the Naxalites along with the state police forces, Border Security Force (BSF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) have also contributed personnel for the operation.

Sources said five battalions of BSF and two from ITBP have already reached ground zero in Chhattisgarh.

The CRPF also pulled out some of its men from Jammu and Kashmir and the north-eastern states to reinforce its strength in the Naxal-affected regions.

A coordinated armed action against the Naxalite groups, involving all the affected state governments and the Central government, has been in the works for quite a long time now, but had to be held back because of the Assembly elections in the states of Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh.

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