The strategic anti-Maoist operations command headquarters of the CRPF has been shifted from Kolkata to right into the heart of the Maoist-hit state of Chhattisgarh
On April 24, 25 CRPF personnel were killed in a Maoist ambush while patrolling in Sukma district, Chhattisgarh. Pic/AFP
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The strategic anti-Maoist operations command headquarters of the CRPF has been shifted from Kolkata to right into the heart of the Maoist-hit state of Chhattisgarh. The move comes in the wake of the massacre of 37 men of the CRPFâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088by Maoists in less than two months.
The CRPF issued an order on May 4 directing the "immediate" transfer of the command headquarters of the central zone of the paramilitary, roughly seven years after it was shifted from Raipur to Kolkata owing to "logistical and connectivity issues" that gave the West Bengal capital an upper hand over its Chhattisgarh counterpart.
CRPF Director General Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar has been asked to ensure that the command begins functioning from Raipur before the high-level meeting of Left wing extremism (LWE)-hit states here today.
The central zone was raised on August 7, 2009, and was tasked to oversee the CRPF troops' deployment across the entire 'red belt' of LWE-hit states (West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, MP and UP). It was moved to Kolkata in July 2010 for want of better connectivity through rail and air transport for the command office.
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