New Delhi: CRPF DG Kuldeep Singh on Wednesday said incidents Left Wing Extremism have come down, and said the Naxal stronghold of Buddha Pahad in Jharkhand has been cleared of Naxals.
Addressing a press conference here, the DG CRPF said Buddha Pahad, which had been a stronghold of Maoists for 30 years was cleared and permanent bases of security forces have been established.
"Several operations in Buddha Pahad failed in the past. But since April 2022, we undertook many campaigns in Jharkhand, and we could bring Buddha Pahad area in control," Singh said.
"We have dropped forces through choppers, the area has been cleared. Permanent camps have been established for the security forces," he said.
Soon after Union home minister Amit Shah took to Twitter to commend the role of the security forces in their fight against Naxals. "Zero tolerance policy of Home Ministry against terrorism and Left-wing extremism (LWE) will continue," Shah wrote on Twitter in Hindi.
Singh said three big operations were undertaken - Operation Octopus, Operation Bulbul, and Operation Thunderstorm, which is ongoing.
"We also continued operations in neighbouring states, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madha Pradesh and Chhattisgarh," he said.
The DG CRPF said 14 Maoists were neutralised this year since April- of these seven were in Chhattisgarh, four in Jharkhand and three in MP. He added that 36 Maoists have surrendered in Bihar, 414 in Chhattisgarh, 110 in Jharkhand, and 18 in Maharashtra. "Incidents of Left Wing Extremism have come down significantly. There has been 77 per cent reduction in violence, which has come down to 509 in 2021. Death rate in LWE incidents has gone down by 85 per cent to 147 in 2021," he said.
Singh said 20 forward operating bases have been established in jharkhand, and 11 bases have been added in last six months.
Singh said the security forces have vowed to take the fight against LWE to its final stage. "We have vowed to take the fight against LWE to its final stage. Since 2014, a special policy has been formed in tandem with central and state security agencies. We have witnessed unprecedented success," he said.