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After a sustained operation along the Jharkhand-West Bengal border, the anti-Naxal forces will soon launch an offensive along the crucial borderline of Orissa and Chhattisgarh which is considered a Maoist stronghold.
Official sources said five battalions (over 5,000 personnel) of the BSF have been asked to move to Orissa border with Chhattisgarh. They said the deployment would be completed by month-end and the operations in the strategic area are likely to begin around the same time.
"We will now focus on the Chhattisgarh-Orissa border and the operations will begin soon," CRPF Special Director General and Commander of the Anti-Naxal Task Force Vijay Raman said.
Asked how he would rate the anti-Naxal operations which have led to the arrest of numerous Maoist leaders and busting of several Naxal camps apart from seizure of a large cache of explosives, Raman said, "It is too early to say anything now. The signpost indicates we are on the right track."
Orissa has about four CRPF battalions posted in the state while there are about 14 in Chhattisgarh, which is one of the first states to begin the operations against the Naxals.
Sources said that the operation along the border of the two states will focus on cutting the escape routes of Naxals and fortifying the same.
Operations would start off from Chhattisgarh and Orissa sides at the same time. These would focus on the 4,000 square kilometre Abujhmad forest of Chhattisgarh and the heavily forested areas connecting the state with Orissa that are considered to be a Maoist hotbed.