3-pronged strategy led to liberation of 650 villages from Maoists: Baghel
Baghel said that tribals and forest dwellers earlier treated police and forest personnel as their enemies but now they consider them as their friends
Chief minister Bhupesh Baghel has said his Congress government’s three-pronged strategy of trust, development, and security in Chhattisgarh’s Maoist-hit areas has led to the liberation of 650 villages from Maoists and declined recruitment of left-wing insurgents.
Baghel said that tribals and forest dwellers earlier treated police and forest personnel as their enemies but now they consider them as their friends. “...[This] has been possible because of the development measures initiated in the Maoist-hit areas,” Baghel told reporters after chairing a meeting of unified command on Tuesday to review the security situation and development works in Maoist-affected areas.
In a statement, the Chhattisgarh Police said human intelligence and the trust between the tribals and security forces were discussed at the meeting. “It was assured that no villagers should be inconvenienced during the anti-naxal operations in the state.”
Ten security personnel and a driver of Chhattisgarh Police were killed in a Maoist attack in Dantewada in April even as the Left-wing insurgency has been waning. The incidents of Maoist violence dipped to 670 in 2019, 665 in 2020, 509 in 2021, and 413 in 2022.
