CRPF planning to start training school at Karregutta Hills along Chhattisgarh-Telangana border

New Delhi/Bijapur, Oct 12 (PTI) The CRPF is planning to establish a commando training school for troops at the rugged Karregutta Hills located along the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border, the site of one of the biggest anti-Naxal operations in which 31 Maoists were killed this year between April and May.

Official sources told PTI that a survey is being undertaken to find a suitable location on the landscape that is about 60 km long, 5-20 km wide, and dotted with caves and bunkers apart from bees, bats, bears and insects of various kinds.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), its jungle warfare commando unit CoBRA, and Chhattisgarh Police undertook the three-week long 'Operation Black Forest' at the Korgotalu Hills (KGH), also known as Karregutta Hills, killing 31 Maoists and seizing a huge cache of arms and ammunition between April and May.

The operation was hailed as the "biggest ever" offensive against the Maoists till date, and was part of the Union government's declaration to end Left Wing Extremism (LWE) from the country by March 2026.

"Post the conclusion of the KGH operation, an extensive sanitisation exercise was carried out to neutralise hidden IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and bombs on the hill.

"That task is almost done and it is now being planned to have a training school run by the CRPF here, so that the hill's feature remains clean and clear," a senior officer said.

"The history of insurgency shows that once you declare victory, you need to hold the area through security forces, else there are chances that the ultras or splinter cadres may re-group like at the KGH," he said.

A team of officers drawn from the paramilitary force and Chhattisgarh Police is looking into the logistics and infrastructure aspects so that a permanent base can be created at the KGH for training commandos, a second officer said.

The two officers said the hill records a high temperature of over 45 degrees Celsius during summer and there are issues related to water and electricity.

The final plan will be operationalised once these basic issues are resolved, the officers said.

During 'Operation Black Forest', troops created routes to move across the hills and hence it is no longer inaccessible. However, the terrain remains very difficult and challenging, they said.

There is also a plan to open some parts of the KGH for tourists, and the presence of a security base will help further this plan as well, they said.

The joint CRPF and Chhattisgarh Police teams recovered 450 IEDs, 35 high-quality weapons, 2 tonnes of explosives, and busted 250 caves and 214 bunkers during the operation across the KGH that spans an area of 1,200 sq km.

The security forces said that as many as 350 Naxals, including top commanders form the most violent Maoist unit -- PLGA Battalion No. 1, Telangana State Committee (TSC) -- and some other wings were present on the hills for almost 2.5 years before the commandos struck.

The KGH also housed the arms manufacturing unit headquarters and served as the armoury of the Maoists. PTI NES ARI