Armed forces have been conducting operations to penetrate deep inside Naxal zones. As operations continue, memorials built by Naxals as remembrance of Naxals killed in different attacks have been revealing new secrets.
Some of these memorials have been demolished by forces in a drive to dismantle them. Forces have discovered casualties from the Naxals’ side, which they kept secret, indicating that the jawans of the armed forces fought bravely.
This month, during an operation, troops entered Morpalli village in the core area of Sukma. During searches, CRPF troops found a Naxal memorial commemorating Naxals killed in the Tadmetla Ambush of April 6, 2010, on the 62nd battalion’s company. The memorial lists the names of eight Naxals killed in that incident, hinting at the intense fight between forces and Naxals during the worst attack on forces, where 76 CRPF jawans were killed. So far, there had been no clarity on the casualties from the Naxals side, as they had not accepted the killing of a commander-level Naxal in the attack.
In 2010, the country witnessed the worst ambush by Naxals, where 76 CRPF jawans were killed. The Naxals ambushed the CRPF team when they were returning after a three-day anti-Maoist operation. The team was taking a break at around 6 am after traveling all night when the attack happened. Around 1,000 Maoists positioned on the neighbouring hilltop attacked the forces, as they were aware of the CRPF movement.
Similarly, last week, the ITBP destroyed a Naxal memorial in the Ekpad area of Kasturmeta. The ITBP stated that during an area domination patrol operation from Kasturmeta, Narayanpur (Chhattisgarh), they sent a strong message to the Naxalites by destroying the Naxalite memorial built in front of the primary school in Ekpad, Narayanpur area.
Sources said that the memorial was built in remembrance of Naxals killed in an attack five years ago, in which Naxals had claimed no casualties. Forces are specifically destroying Naxals’ memorials by running a special drive to send Naxal leadership a strong message.
“During recent instances that have happened in the last 45 days, local police in Chhattisgarh and forces have demolished various memorials, which revealed the casualties of Naxals in various operations. Surprisingly, even forces were not sure about the casualties as Naxals used to take away the dead bodies of their cadres killed in operations. Forces have been asked to keep track of such memorials and gather evidence,” a senior ADG rank official told News18.
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