Beyond bullets in Bastar’s anti-Naxal operation, forces face Maoists, bear & buffalo in Indravati tiger reserve

RAIPUR: Deep inside the core of Indravati national park and a tiger reserve, where dense forests choke out helicopter landings and steep hills stretch for kilometres without a single village in sight, security forces fought not just Maoists but the terrain and wildlife itself during a three-day counter-insurgency operation that ended with six hardcore cadres killed and five security personnel injured — including two in wild animal attacks. The encounter, which began on Jan 17 had set out the jawans on 16th night and continued intermittently till Sunday evening, unfolded in one of the most inhospitable operational grids of south Bastar. More than the Maoists, it was a face off with wild animals this time. In one incident, a bear attack left a CoBRA head constable injured. In another, an STF jawan was mauled by a wild buffalo — an animal known to charge without warning in thick undergrowth where visibility is a few metres and movement is noisy. In such situations, an officer from the operatiton explained, a jawan has seconds to react: the rifle is slung or held low to avoid snagging on vines, the body is weighed down by gear, and the ground is uneven, slippery, and full of hidden roots. “In these forests, you don’t get a clean line of sight. A shadow becomes a threat, a sudden rustle becomes a rush,” he said.The STF jawan had to be airlifted to Raipur for advanced treatment. Evacuation proved exceptionally difficult as thick vegetation ruled out an immediate helicopter landing, a CRPF official said. With no helipad or clearing available, injured personnel were carried on shoulders through dense jungle and rugged terrain for over 10 kilometres before a safe evacuation corridor could be secured, the official told TOI. He said all injured personnel are currently stable.The CRPF officer involved in the operation said the absence of habitation compounded the challenge. “There is no village support grid in this core zone. Everything — evacuation, communication and movement — has to be created on the spot.” Only after the evacuation chain was established did the final outcome of the operation become clear: six Maoists, including four women cadres, were killed in the gunfight, and two more personnel sustained splinter injuries during exchanges of fire. Bijapur SP Jitendra Yadav said joint teams of CoBRA, STF and district forces were operating in thick jungle and rocky hill slopes when Maoists fired from forest cover and used grenades; splinters were triggered when bullets struck rocks in the hilly terrain, sending fragments into nearby personnel — a common injury pattern in rocky jungle encounters where cover is natural and distances collapse quickly.Police said the slain cadres carried a combined reward of Rs 27 lakh including the dreaded DVCM Dilip Vedja described as a key figure in the area with 135 criminal cases registered against him in Bijapur district. Officials said security agencies had been trying to persuade Dilip to surrender through indirect channels, but he continued operating with the armed squad and allegedly chose to engage forces.From the encounter site, teams recovered six graded weapons, including an AK-47, INSAS, carbine and a .303 rifle, along with ammunition. The operation, senior officers said, captured the double-edged reality of anti-Maoist missions in the deep forests of Bastar: jawans move expecting an ambush, but in tiger reserve territory, the jungle has its own unpredictability. “You go in prepared for bullets and pressure IEDs,” an officer said, “and then you find yourself dealing with a bear, or a charging buffalo, in a place where a helicopter can’t touch down.”Caption: The tough, rocky terrain inside Bijapur's Indravati National Park where security forces had a face off with Maoists, sloth bear and wild buffalo