Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Two jungle camps have been set up in the heart of the woody land of Kanha National Park surrounded by craggy hillocks to deal with the Maoists. They burgeon in the woodland of Kanha spread over an area of 940 square km in two districts of the state – Mandla and Balaghat.
Those who have been posted to those camps are so efficient that they can take on 500 Maoists at a time, official sources said on Thursday.
Because of the rise in activities of Maoists, Union Forest Minister wrote a letter to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in March this year for immediate intervention, so that their activities could be stopped in the tourist spot.
On March 22 this year, the brutal killing of a guard Sukhdeo, who was working on daily wages, set off alarm bells among the security agencies in the state.
The incident that took place in Mukki range of the Kanha Tiger Reserve indicated that the Maoists were spreading their tentacles in the area.
The guard was a resident of Malkhedi village in Balaghat district. The Maoists polished him off suspecting that he had been police informer.
Inspector general of police (Anti-Naxal Operation), Farid Shapoo, told told Free Press that after the Chief Minister’s intervention, two jungle camps of Hawk Force have been set up in the core area of the forest.
“Fifty-five 55 Hawk Force personnel have been deployed in each camp. They are so well-equipped and well-trained that they can take on 500 Maoists at a time,” he added.
The camps have brought under control the Maoists’ activities in the area. Shapoo further said that the Maoists had been more active in certain pockets of the forest, like Sukaar, Bhaisanghat, Mukki and Sen Sanctuary, than other in other areas of the national park.
Sukaar and Bhaisanghat are located on borders of Chhatisgarh, and Mukki is very close to it.
Although left wing activists did not harm any tourists, they were trying to expand their base, but just after the setting up of the camps, their plans seemed to have fizzled out.
 (1).jpg)