Bokaro, May 4: Director-general of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Jyoti Kumar Sinha today professed the need for the police to have its own Greyhound force, as in Andhra Pradesh, to battle the extremists.
Sinha said the force should be armed with the latest electronic gadgets and strategic location postings to beat the Maoists at their own game.
Greyhound is the elite commando team in Andhra Pradesh, which, Sinha informed, has a number of successful anti-rebel operations under its belt, thanks to its adoption of the latest technologies. The DG, who was here to present the best administrative battalion award to commandant Bhanu Pratap Singh of the 72nd battalion of CRPF, also praised the police officers for putting up a ?praiseworthy? job.
He then flew off to the hilly terrain of Jhumra, a Naxalite-infested area, along with the director-general of police of Jharkhand, V.D. Ram, to take a stock of the ground realities at Jhumra Pahad.
Talking to the media, the DG informed that till now, the CRPF had adopted a defensive strategy and it was up to the state police to provide the intelligence support to their mission. The messages that were relayed to the jawans in the process through age-old wireless sets were often intercepted by the rebels and would often result in failed missions.
?From now on, a battalion of seven to eight people will only concentrate on building intelligence network and chalking out ways of conducting counter attack on extremists. They would then go all out against the Naxalites, geared up sufficiently to be able to sustain themselves for 10 days and not return till the mission is accomplished,? Sinha said.
Such a move will be carried out on a rotational basis and at least one battalion will remain fresh enough to carry this operation, Sinha further said. The jawans will be well-equipped with the latest satellite phones and gadgets, including night binoculars, to be a step ahead of their rebel rivals.
Thanking the CRPF for carrying out an exceptionally good job against the Naxalites in the state, V.D. Ram added that the government will provide all necessary help to the para-military troops to carry out their operations in tough terrain.
He further said the police will start aerial patrolling soon and Sinha promised to provide trained pilots for that.