In 24 hours, 8km road laid, police station set up at mouth of Maoist HQ in Chhattisgarh

NAGPUR: Gadchiroli commandos moved closer to storming the booby-trapped Maoist headquarters of Abujmarh by setting up a police station at Pengunda, just 3km off the Chhattisgarh border, in the heart of the Red Corridor on Wednesday.
A muddy trail through dense forest — the sole access route to the remote corner of the tribal district — was widened into an 8km stretch and a couple of makeshift bridges were erected. And all this in just 24 hours.
More than 1,000 police officers joined hands to set up a basic infrastructure for opening the police station before nightfall, enabling 450 commandos to be permanently stationed here.
The newly laid road and bridges straddling nullahs helped trucks and other machinery to cross the densely forested region to transport construction material to Pengunda.
The police station, equipped with bullet-proof morchas and world-class ballistic proof Mac-walled boundaries will fortify the post from explosive and firearm attacks.
It will also serve as a launchpad for operations to wrest control of Abujmarh from guerrillas and provide security to contractors and labourers who are building the key highway, linking Gadchiroli to Bijapur in Chhattisgarh.
Once a death zone for security forces due to the booby-trapped forested stretches, Pengunda hit the headlines after Maoists eliminated a tribal a year ago when then chief minister Eknath Shinde was touring the district. The investigation into the murder was taken up by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Sources stated Pengunda is located within the 27km stretch between Dhodraj and Kawande that borders neighbouring Chhattisgarh and is in the core Abujmarh area straddling both states. The stretch was considered one of the deadliest zones for security forces, with Maoists turning the entire forested stretch into a minefield.
The turnaround moment for police was the adoption of the govt's flagship ‘gaonbandi' scheme to receive preferences for development activities in these remote hamlets. The tribals then vowed to shun Maoists and helped police detect and destroy landmines and spiked holes laid by guerrillas to ambush commandos.
Gadchiroli SP Neelotpal, inspector general of police, state anti-Naxal operation cell Sandip Patil, and DIG, Naxal Range, Ankit Goyal, were present to open the Pengunda police station. State reserve police force and central reserve police force have also been deployed along with the district's home-grown C-60 commandos and bomb detection and disposal squads. "Now, we are at the doorstep of Abujmarh and we will use the police station as a launchpad for operations in coming days," said Neelotpal.