Ranchi, June 27: Jharkhand police have roped in a retired Indian Army Colonel to train their personnel and officers in jungle warfare - special sets of techniques that security forces need to survive and fight in rough forests.
Ex-Colonel of Kumaon Regiment Arun Parasar has been appointed the officer on special duty (OSD) at the state's Jungle Warfare School in Netarhat of Latehar district, about 150km from the state capital, to sharpen police's skills in fighting Naxalism. Parasar took charge on June 10.
IG (training) Prashant Singh said the move was aimed at utilising the cradle more effectively to prepare police personnel and officers for the fight against various rebel organisations in the state.
"His (Parasar) association with Jungle Warfare School will add an edge to the training programmes," IG Singh added.
Born and brought up in Ranchi and an alumnus of St Jonh's School and St Xavier's College, Colonel Parasar was part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka and comes with huge experience of wars in different climatic conditions and topography like glaciers, forests and plains.
In a state like Jharkhand, where most of the 24 districts are affected by Naxalism, jungle warfare is key to rein in extremism and crack down on the Maoists, who operate from forests and hilly terrain to deal a body blow on security forces.
This is why the state had established the school, spread over 198 acres of forests and hilly terrain, around five years ago to develop its own force to fight rebels and reduce its dependence on the para military forces in the anti-Naxalite operations.
A source at the state police headquarters in Ranchi told The Telegraph that the appointment of the retired army officer would help the police training cradle serve the purpose, for which it was set up.
"Though the cradle was named Jungle Warfare School, it has so far been used to impart basic training to police constables and officers. In last five years, as many as 8,000 police personnel received training at the centre. But now, it can be used effectively to inculcate in policemen specialised skills required to fight insurgency and extremism," the officer pointed out.
