Anony
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The government is set to move unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) meant for anti-Naxalite operations to Bhilai in Chhattisgarh, even as the Indian Air Force (IAF) is ramping up its helicopter fleet in central India.
Though the moves were planned earlier, the twin responses would further strengthen governments ongoing effort to revise its security response to the Naxalite menace in the wake of last Saturdays attack on Congress leaders in Bastar, Chhattisgarh.
UAVs of the National Technical Research Organization (NTRO) are to be moved from Hyderabad to Bhilai as part of efforts to step up technological capabilities in the Maoist-hit areas. One official speculated that UAVs with synthetic aperture radars, capable of seeing through foliage and clouds, would have been able to detect movement of a big group of Naxals as was the case in the recent attack in Bastar area, in which several Congress leaders were among those killed.
Sources said the government would also be soon sanctioning approval to NTRO to set up more UAV bases in the Naxalite-affected central Indian region. It is believed that the government is set to bring all strategic UAVs under a single operational command-and-control.
A couple of seasoned counter-insurgency officers pointed out that the intensification of technology may not be the most effective action against the ongoing Naxalite menace. Our biggest problem is of human intelligence. Our forces have extremely weak intelligence network. So we are forced to accept such bloody surprises, one officer said.
Intensification of UAV presence in the Naxalite area would also coincide with the IAFs move to increase its helicopters in operation in the area, to provide logistical support to paramilitary and state police operating in the area.
IAF is to raise a new unit of MI-17 V5 helicopters in Nagpur next month, and it would be providing logistical support in anti-Naxalite operations in Jagdalpur, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne had said on Wednesday.
Presently, IAF has six MI-17 helicopters deployed from its unit based in Gorakhpur. These choppers fly from Ranchi, Raipur and Jagdalpur. Browne said the new unit would provide faster response in terms of an incident in Chhattisgarhs remote areas.
