Unmanned plane to counter Naxalism in Maharashtra

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Last updated on: February 20, 2007 19:09 IST

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is all set to be deployed in eastern Maharashtra to trace the movements of naxals, a senior police official of anti-naxalite operation said on Tuesday.

The UAV over naxal-infested Gadchiroli district is likely to be operational sometime next week, said Inspector General of Police, Anti-naxal operations, Pankaj Gupta.

Gupta told PTI that UAV's operation in Chhattisgarh was quite successful and the authorities have received photo and video images both from cameras fitted in the flying machine.

It has traced movement of naxalites near the hilly terrain of Abuzmadd in Bastar district which is a virtual den of the outlawed extremists.

The images of naxal training camps, organised in thick and dense forests in Abuzmadd area of Bastar region of Chhattisgarh are very clear and reveal a lot of things which the official declined to mention.

About 20 per cent of Abuzmadd falls under the jurisdiction of Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra. The naxals indulge in violence either across the border and cross over to other area. To check such activities, there has been some joint-oparations of both Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh police in the past, Gupta said.

The UAV was in operation in Chhattisgarh for quite sometime and results are excellent, he said adding now as part of a strategy, the UAV will be positioned over eastern Maharashtra.

Police sources said CRPF personnel deployed in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh have already started invading Abuzmadd.

Since British era, the area has remained cut off from rest of the world. No survey of Abuzmmad has been done over years.

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