State asks for 7 more CRPF battalions in Red-hit districts

Ranchi: The state has urged the home ministry to deploy seven CRPF battalions in some of the Maoist-affected districts which have seen the worst violence triggered by Left-extremists since 2004.
Over 24,000 CRPF personnel (23 battalions) are deployed in the state and are engaged in anti-Maoist operations. But Jharkhand Police claim that several districts do not have enough central security force to fight Maoists.
Six districts in Santhal Pargana division do not have any CRPF battalion. In 2013, Pakur SP and six security guards were killed on a busy highway connecting Dumka with Pakur. Again in 2014, eight people, including polling officials, were killed in an ambush during the Lok Sabha election. More than 400 security personnel were killed since 400.
Top police officials in the state had earlier raised the issue of CRPF deployment in Dumka, where one Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) battalion is posted, at security review meets.
Koderma too does not have CRPF jawans. East Singhbhum district, which shares border with West Bengal and Odisha, has only one battalion.
“The state requires seven new CRPF battalions. Our forces have dismantled extremist networks in large parts of the state. We went to the remotest areas that were once occupied by the rebels and flushed them out. There are some districts where we need more forces to tackle them better,” said DGP Rajiv Kumar.
A senior IPS officer said, on condition of anonymity, the central part of Jharkhand’s border with Bihar is conducive for Maoists to regroup and launch attacks on security forces. Palamu-Aurangabad, Chatra-Gaya, Koderma-Nawada and Giridih-Jamui have the worst terrain on Jharkhand-Bihar border. “Few police stations are situated 20-30km away from the demarcated border. But there are not adequate police personnel to patrol all the areas. It will be better if some CRPF camps are opened in such areas,” he said.
“CRPF is specially trained to function in tough conditions and has proper fighting skills. CRPF personnel played a crucial role in flushing out extremists from Saranda (West Singhbhum) which Maoists once considered a liberated zone,” said a CRPF officer not willing to be identified. BJP MP from Godda Nishikant Dubey has been demanding CRPF deployment in Dumka for the last few years.
A source said Jharkhand Police would deploy one battalion in Koderma, Jamshedpur (that shares border with Odisha), Chatra and Simdega (shares border with Chhattisgarh and Odisha). “I do not have updates on whether the Centre has sanctioned any battalion as yet,” said CRPF IG RK Mishra.
The demand has already been forwarded to home minister Rajnath Singh, who had recently visited a CRPF camp in West Singhbhum district, said the DGP. “I hope we will get the seven battalions soon,” said Kumar.