In a move like never before, the Chhattisgarh police have recruited as many as 20 surrendered Maoists, all women, into a commando unit in the Dantewada region of Bastar. The women commandos are inducted into the District Reserve Guard, its front-line anti-Maoist force. With the induction of the women commando contingent, the number of platoons of the DRG in Dantewada now stands at six.
The specially-raised squad, christened “Danteshwari Ladake”, or fighters of Goddess Danteshwari, was inducted in the state’s Maoist-hit Dantewada district, around 400km from Raipur.
“Although the state police and paramilitary forces in Bastar have deployed women personnel but they have limited work. It is for the first time that an exclusive team of women commandos has been set up to carry out counter-insurgency operations shoulder to shoulder with male DRG members in the area,” said Pallava, who introduced this platoon.
“These women commandos have been given three-months advanced in-house training in jungle warfare tactics. They are trained for motorcycle patrolling in the dense forests, map reading, understanding Naxal profiles, and counter-ambush strategy… The important factor is all of them are local residents, including surrendered Naxals, and therefore are well acquainted with the forested terrain and the local language. All these are key elements in the fight against Naxals,” he said.
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