Naxalites who have made their hideout in the Abujhmad forest of Chhattisgarh are going to get a big blow. Official documents have revealed that the Chhattisgarh government has asked the Narayanpur district administration to acquire 54,543 hectares of land to build an army maneuver range inside the Abujhmad forests of Bastar, the strongest fort of the Maoists in the state.
Chhattisgarh’s revenue and disaster management department wrote a letter to the Narayanpur district collector on August 7 regarding the establishment of the Indian Army’s war exercise range. The letter said the range will be set up in the Sonpur-Garpa area of the district’s Orchha tehsil, which falls in the Abujhmad forests. HT has seen a copy of the letter. Umesh Kumar Patel, under secretary of the revenue and disaster management department, confirmed it and said the letter has been sent.
The development comes weeks after Union Home Minister Amit Shah told officials of Left Wing Extremism-hit states that the time had come to eliminate Maoism. The 4,000 sq km Abujhmad forest stretches across Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
Abujhmad is a combination of the Gondi words “Abujh” and “Maad”. It translates to “hills of the unknown”. That is, an area that has not yet been used by the government. Since 2017, there have been several attempts to conduct a preliminary survey in the area, but every attempt has been hampered due to extremely difficult topography, lack of infrastructure and heavy fortifications by the Maoists. According to revenue department officials, the acquisition of land for the army range was pending since 2017. Nothing much happened in the last seven years. Now plans are being made to acquire land at a fast pace.
According to the letter of the Revenue Department, the war exercise range will be set up in an area of 54,543 hectares. This will require the use and transfer of government land in Narayanpur district, which is in the Abujhmad forest area of Bastar. The Revenue Department has also cited its previous letters dated 13 September 2017, 21 November 2017 and 17 February 2021 and requested the Collector to send the necessary information soon.
An army official, on condition of anonymity, said that tactical war exercises require a large piece of land. These ranges provide a dedicated area for tank training and simulation of various battlefield scenarios. This helps the soldiers to hone their skills. An internal security expert said that setting up such a range in a conflict zone helps in establishing dominance over the area. It also helps the security forces in maintaining law and order.
A senior Chhattisgarh police officer said the Army will not carry out any operation but they will have a large area under Maoist control. This year, the Chhattisgarh police has opened four new camps in Abujhmad – Maspur, Kasturmeta, Mohandi and Irrakbhati. Chhattisgarh intelligence officials believe most of the senior CPI (Maoist) leaders are camping in the southern and south-western parts of Abujhmad near the Maharashtra border and the Narayanpur-Maharashtra-Bijapur trijunction.
