Naxals using drones in Chhattisgarh to track security forces

According to sources, drones are being used by the Naxalites in Chhattisgarh to conduct reconnaissance of Central Reserve Police Force camps and their inside activities.

New Delhi:After the drone attack at Jammu Air Force Station on June 27, sources in the security agencies have revealed that Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officials spotted a drone hovering in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district. As per the security agencies, last month, a drone was spotted in the Naxal-hit Dornapal area after which security agencies alerted the CRPF personnel to keep watch on suspicious drone movements in and around the area.

Sukma, around 400 km away from state capital Raipur, is one of the worst Naxal-hit districts in the country. The information has also been shared with the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) and agencies working in Chhattisgarh that Naxalites have started using drones to gather information from the personnel deployed in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas. The MAC, formed in 2001, is a national Intelligence-sharing fusion centre under the Intelligence Bureau where states and central agencies and police forces coordinate to share, store, collate and analyze inputs on terrorism, daily.

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According to sources, Border Security Force (BSF) has so far recorded at least 99 drone sightings since 2020 at the western border from Gujarat to Jammu. The force has even spotted drones in Naxal affected areas as well in the eastern part of India. Notably, the Ministry of Civil Aviation is in the process of preparing new rules to regulate drone use in India. The revised rules were presented before Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 29 in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. According to sources, the deadline for the publication of a new set of rules is August 15.

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