Monsoon slows down anti-Maoist offensive

RAIPUR - The anti-Maoist offensive in Chhattisgarh’s restive Bastar region has slowed down due to the Monsoon, an official said Monday.

“There is always a big problem going deep into hilly jungle terrain amid Monsoon rains to hit open-air jungle hideouts of Maoists where the risk of landslides is very high,” a senior police official posted in Bastar told IANS.

“We have not stopped the operation against Maoists. Every year during Monsoon, the offensive is slowed down by forces and even Maoists migrate from their landslide-prone jungle hideouts between mid-June and mid-September,” he said.

“We will strive to hit rebels’ hideouts but it’s a fact that Monsoon is a dull period for police to storm their bases,” the official said.

The Bastar region, considered a Maoist hotbed, includes five districts - Narayanpur, Kanker, Bastar, Bijapur and Dantewada. The region covers nearly 40,000 sq km area of which, according to police, up to 25,000 sq km is intensively mined.

In April, Maoists carried out their biggest ever strike in Dantewada district and killed 76 security men.