Government plans to use Eagle to tackle Maoists

Central Government has planned to deploy Israeli Heron’s eagle eyes to track their movements on real time basis and use armoured MI-17+ to deploy forces for quick operations.

The two-pronged strategy supplemented by central and state police forces on the ground is expected to be used in a big way post-monsoon to make forward thrust deep inside the Maoist territory where security forces suffer heavy losses because of unknown terrain.

Three Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles will take off from the Begumpet airport in Hyderabad in the first week of August and take trial flights over the vast expanse of Dandakaranya forest and beyond.

The trial flights by the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) on clear sky days will help fine tune the response time of security forces against a Maoist build up by supplying real time imagery of the terrain.

“They are being fitted with night vision and thermal devices to counter Maoist offensive at any time. Though their ability can reduce sharply because of dense foliage, we hope they can at least tell of a big movement,” sources said.

Having a range of 800 km, Herons can fly clandestinely between a few hundred feet to 15,000 feet and supply very clear video feeds and images of movements on their flight path.

Eager to tackle the Maoists at the earliest, who are desperate to expand their area of operations after being hit badly at the top level, the Union home ministry hopes that the six wet-leased armoured M-17 plus choppers will start operations by September end or the first week of October.

By positioning them strategically in Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Gadhchiroli in Maharashtra, the Centre wants to cut their response time to less than an hour in times of exigencies, the sources said.

The Maoists, according to the Centre’s anti-Naxal think tank, are lying low for the time being because of suffering setbacks at the leadership level but are planning big offensives soon.

Following an aggressive policy against the Naxal leadership with the help of Andhra Pradesh’s special intelligence cell and other state polices, the Centre has managed to arrest 7 of the 14 CPI (Maoist) polit bureau members. Besides, 11 members of their Central Committee are also in judicial custody.

Officials expect the Maoists to change their strategy once they face the new weapons and want the states to implement the scheme of 400 fortified police stations at the earliest.

“We have already cleared proposals for over 300 police stations. Unless the states implement it on the ground, the UAVs and choppers will not be of much help,” said sources.