11 BSF COBs established in Naxal-affected areas of Chhattisgarh and Odisha

The BSF has established 11 company operating bases in the naxal-affected areas of Chhattisgarh and Odisha. These bases were established in such places which had been the hotbed of Maoists for many years. Writes ETV Bharat’s Gautam Debroy.

New Delhi: The Border Security Force (BSF) has established 11 company operating bases (COB) in the Naxal-affected areas of Chhattisgarh and Odisha, officials said on Thursday. These bases were established in such places which had been the hotbed of Maoists for many years.

A senior BSF official told ETV Bharat that from November 2022 to October this year, 11 new COBs (three in Chhattisgarh and eight in Odisha) have been established or relocated. Three COBs have been established at Chilparas, Mendra and Hetley of Chhattisgarh where the remaining eight have been established at Kumbhakari, Balandapara, Gochapada, Sadingia, Pahireju, Migunipadar, Kolampada, and Tulsi of Odisha.

“Establishment of COBs in the interior pockets of Odisha-Chhattisgarh is a milestone to execute various developmental works, providing government aids to the locals and to sanitise the area from the grip of Maoists and their activities for the gross benefits of the inhabitants in this region,” the official said.

During the same period, two frontiers, four sector HQs and 16 battalions under one command headquarters have been deployed in Odisha and Chhattisgarh. “BSF Battalions are deployed in Kanker, Narayanpur, Kondagaon districts of Chhattisgarh and Koraput, Malkangiri and Kandhamal districts of Odisha,” the official said.

The official said that apart from working on its intelligence, BSF is also jointly working on the intelligence shared by the concerned State governments. “The local police are well aware of the area. So, on many occasions, we work in close coordination with the State security forces,” the official said.

Giving operation details in these two States, the official said that as many as 19 Naxals have been apprehended in these two States during the same period including one in Odisha and 18 in Chhattisgarh. At least 39 IEDs have been detected in Odisha and Chhattisgarh. The agency has also seized several weapons, ammunition, arrow bombs, gelatin sticks, grenade, detonators, and explosives from Odisha and Chhattisgarh from October last year up to November 2023.

Significantly, the border guarding agency is organizing its 59th raising day parade in Jharkhand on Friday. Giving some details about its initiative taken along the western and eastern frontier, the official said that along the Indo-Pak border, the agency has deployed hand-held static and vehicle-mounted anti-drone systems to counter the increasing threat of drones on the Indo-Pak border.

“We have also started registration of farmers having land ahead of fencing in the Punjab border on biometric machines on a few gates as well as replacing border flood lights with LED lights,” the official said. Along the India-Bangladesh border, the official said that an innovative project DOGS (Dog Operated Ground Surveillance) for surveillance under train bogies with the help of trained BSF Dog was fabricated by the NIIE Cell.

At present two systems are deployed at ICP Petrapole, South Bengal Ftr and one system is at NTCD, Tekanpur for training purposes, the official said.

“Creation of improvised obstacles in the hypersensitive stretch of the border, as well as high wire mesh fence and fixing of net over the IBB fence, have been done along the border. Deployment of floating BOPs in Sunderban area and mounted patrolling and domination of char land by all-terrain vehicle (ATV) have been done along the Indo-Bangla border,” the official said.