Army proposes new anti-Naxal training centre

In the backdrop of major attacks by Maoists against paramilitary and central police personnel, the Army has proposed to set up a dedicated centre to ready the security men for the battle against the Naxals.

The proposal was made during the ongoing Army Commanders' Conference here and it was suggested that the new centre could be set up on the lines of the Army's Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School (CIJWS) in Mizoram.

Army sources said here today that the Commanders discussed the issue and they were willing to offer the services of defence officers as instructors at the new school for training the paramilitary personnel.

The new centre, sources said, would be in addition to the anti-Naxal operations training that the Army has been provided for the last six years now.

The training all these years were taking place both at the Army's Corps Training Centres and at the Central Paramilitary Forces' training schools in the states affected by Maoist menace.

The Army has so far trained 46,343 paramilitary, state and central police personnel in anti-Naxal operations.

The Army commanders are also scheduled to get an update on Naxal menace in central states with the Central Army Command under Lt Gen V K Ahluwalia making a presentation on 'The Naxal Situation: Its Likely Developments and Resources Required' on the penultimate day of their five-day conference.

The idea of a dedicated training school for paramilitary and police forces was floated even as Maoists triggered an Improvised Explosive Device to blow up a bus killing 35 passengers, including 20 special police officers, in Dantewada district of Chattisgarh yesterday.