Maoists using drone to track movement of jawans, security forces

In what could pose serious challenge for the anti-naxal operations, the red-rebels are now relying on advanced technology to counter the operations by the security personnel.

In a first, police have seized a drone camera from CPI (Maoist) couriers in Telangana. The accused have been identified as Nageswara Rao, Malikarjuna Rao and Pangulu Umashankar.

As per official sources, the drone was seized during joint search operations by Cherla police, special party police and CRPF 141 Bn personnel at Devanagaram of Cherla mandal in Kothagudem district on Tuesday.

Former BSF ADG, Pravas Mishra said, “The seizure of drone and explosives is certainly concerning. During interrogation, the accused revealed that the Maoists are in possession of 10 drones which are being used for surveillance and tracking of the movements of security personnel.”

According to Mishra, such incidents reveal that the rebels are using drones for the past 3 to 6 months. Apart from this, automatic weapons are also reaching the naxals which is a challenge for the security personnel engaged in combing operations.

As per initial reports, the Maoists of Bastar division bordering Odisha’s Malkangiri district are in possession of nearly 10 drones. The CRPF jawans had spotted drones during the operation in Sukma, Bijapur and Narayanpur.