Securitymen await BJP government’s decision on using armed forces against Naxals

[Lord Of Gondor]

I would be for the employment of more Mi17's in cas-evac role but against the Army being sent in( because the politicians *****d up,again).
This should be primarily handled by the state police and augmented by CRPF and BSF.
I hope that the home ministry acquires some UAV's to increase surveillance and reduce the risk of those nightmarish ambushes that the men on the ground face!
OT:
I remember watching a news channel covering a fresh Naxal ambush on the CRPF and the presenter said that immediately after the ambush,the CRPF team started firing indiscriminately and ultimately ran out of ammunition in a short while,after which the Naxals closed in and picked 'em off one after the other!
If the report is true,then training needs to be stepped up so that they fire at targets that they can visually identify,in panic situations and not spray all over the place!

 

[Mike_Brando]

This was in 2012 so in 1-2 years the CAPFs will have enough manpower on the ground making a RR deployment pretty pointless now. Secondly the IAF have said they don't want to use airpower against the Naxals- the have never used airpower against any of the insurgencies that have presented themselves throughout modern India's history. As such I don't see this happening- the Indian Mil will make their position against this known and Modi will likely heed their advice.

The budget of the CAPFs needs to be bolstered and they need to get even more equipment to allow them to operate on their own without needing military support- this is what Modi should authorise, a 15-20% increase in the CAPF's budgets.

Mate the manpower issue of the CAPF has largely been solved in the past couple of years thanks to Mr.Shinde(our ex-H.M.)The current manpower of the C.R.P.F. is around 2,86,000 which will definitely rise in the near future to around 3,50,000 as the GoI has plans to use only the C.R.P.F. along with the B.S.F.as the premium counter-insurgent force in the country.The same is true avbout the B.S.F. which has a current strength of around 2,38,000 and again it will rise to a min. 3,00,000 in the next couple of years due to the newly formed Indo-Myanmar border division(previously the border was managed by the A.R.).
Total strength of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), force, rank and gender-wise | Central Government Employee News & Tools

 

[Rajaraja Chola]

No. The CRPF have invested years of experience, intelligence in fighting the menance. They now know very well in distinguishing btw the Maoist and locals.
While Armed Drones and Helis can be provided, it should be controlled by the CRPF.

 

[Indischer]

How about developing a dedicated COIN air arm for the CAPFs? Just one squadron of attack helis ought to be enough.

 

[Bang Galore]

. Giving gunships to the CAPFs in their own air wings is the same issue- is it worth the risk?

The risk bit is debatable & you may well be right in suggesting that it isn't worth it but if there is widespread interest in the HM about this & the Defence forces are not inclined, I see no other way to go. The HM & the DM cannot be in permanent disagreement with nothing happening on the ground. If the Defence ministry is able to convince the Home ministry on advisability or otherwise of such action, that is one thing but to suggest that since the IAF does not want to use air power domestically, the forces battling the Maoists be left on their own even when they & their bosses want something done is not logical. If the IAF's differences is ideological, they should be allowed to hold that view only if the Home ministry forces are allowed to own & operate their own air wing. We need better co-ordination within our forces, both Defence & Home, not individual groups replicating capabilities.