Centre to send 4,000 more paramilitary troops to Chhattisgarh

The move comes following a request by the Chhattisgarh government after Union Home Secretary R K Singh visited Raipur yesterday.

Official sources said the Centre has sent 26 battalions (about 1,000 personnel per battalion) of central paramilitary forces to Chhattisgarh, one of the worst Naxal-affected states, to assist the state police forces to deal with the Maoists.

But considering its large geographical area and inaccessible forests, the state is facing shortage of security personnel to be deployed in sensitive areas and, hence, requested for four more battalions of central paramilitary personnel, they said.

The sources said during his day-long visit, the Home Secretary had interacted with state government officials, including district magistrates, and security personnel deployed in Naxal-hit areas and got their feed back about the ground situation.

Singh had also asked the police personnel to instill sense of security in the local population, bring peace and order and help initiate development programmes.

He had also asked officials to understand the problems of the local population and the culture and traditions of tribals.