Strategic UAV base shifted to Maoist hotspot in Bastar

New Delhi: The strategic technical command centre of the Unnamed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), operated by the NTRO and the CRPF, has been shifted to the Naxal hotbed of Bastar in Chhattisgarh in order to provide security forces an enhanced aerial surveillance to conduct anti-Maoist operations.

The centre, with about three dozen flying assets of various categories, has been recently moved "lock, stock and barrel" from the steel city of Bhilai in Durg district of the state to Jagdalpur in south Bastar, in vicinity of the worst Naxal violence affected districts like Sukma and Dantewada.

The UAV base has recently been shifted and activated in the heart of the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh.

"The idea to shift the technical command centre is to provide quick and long haul aerial reconnaissance to the anti-Naxal operations forces on ground like the CRPF, CoBRA and the state police," a senior security official involved in the operation said.