Director General of Police M. Mahender Reddy said that as many as six CRPF base camps were set up in the border areas of Charla mandal of Bhadradri Kothagudem district by the Union Home Ministry as part of efforts to strengthen anti-Maoist operations and root out Maoist menace.
He was speaking at a meeting after formally inaugurating the CRPF camp at the remote Chennapuram village in Charla mandal along with Director General of CRPF Kuldip Singh on Wednesday.
Earlier, the DGP and the top brass of CRPF arrived in Chhennapuram in a helicopter, amid elaborate security arrangements in the forest fringe area in Telangana’s tribal region.
Police maintained a strict vigil in the volatile forest areas of Charla mandal straddling the restive inter-State border with Chhattisgarh’s south Bastar region, considered a Maoist hotbed.
The newly set up CRPF camp at Chennapuram is expected to serve as forward operating base to forge effective coordination in anti-Maoist operations by the State police and the CRPF in the Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas along the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border, police sources said.
Addressing the officials and the staff at the CRPF camp premises near Chhennapuram, Mr. Mahender Reddy said that the district police in coordination with the CRPF personnel are maintaining constant vigil on the movements of Maoists along the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border.
Alleging that the ultras were targeting innocent tribal people, he said that Maoists lost mass support in Telangana.
Several senior CRPF officials and Bhadradri Kothagudem district Superintendent of Police G Vineeth were present.