Gundam (Chhattisgarh), Dec 16 (PTI) Originally a training centre of the CPI (Maoists) deep inside a jungle in Bijapur district, Gundam has turned into a formidable camp of the CRPF, serving as a nerve centre of anti-Naxal operations.

A CRPF camp was set up in February in the hamlet after Naxals were driven out from this old den of theirs after months of struggle.

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While visiting the camp, Union Home Minister Amit Shah interacted with the security personnel, had lunch with them. He also told them that they would have to be tough with the Maoists, but must consider the needs of the local population.

"If you face Naxals, confront them with toughest action but make sure that your action does not lead to any civilian getting annoyed," he said.

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Shah said that any local who comes to any camp must be offered help like medical care, or free food, or education for their children. "You have to make a friendship with the locals, win the trust and heart," he told the jawans.

Security forces have opened 289 new camps in the Naxal-affected areas in different parts of the country in the last five years.

In Bijapur, this year alone, four camps were opened.

Apart from Gundam, three other camps -- Chutuwahi, Kundapalli and Batebabu -- have been set up so far this year after they were rid of Naxals.

In nearby Sukma district, forces have opened camps at Tekalgudium, Gulakunda and Pubarti, the ancestral village of dreaded Maoist leader Hidimba.

"All this was made possible due to the high-tech arms and equipment the government has provided to the forces," said Amit Kumar, a commandant of the CRPF.

Apart from surveillance drones and advanced weapons like sniper rifles, forces were provided with wheel-armoured platforms, mine protected vehicles, and advanced life support ambulances.

A wheel-armoured platform can carry 12 fully armed personnel with automatic machine guns atop. While this machine can withstand the impact of the blast of 100 kg IED, a mine protected vehicle can bear the impact of the explosion of 50 kg IED.

With the establishment of the security camps, the government has also constructed roads, health centres, schools, aanganwadi centres, and PDS shops.

Shah said the undivided Bastar district, which is geographically 1.4 times bigger than Kerala, had just 187 employees in the 1980s, leading to almost no development reaching the people.

Now, the district has been bifurcated into seven districts with the deployment of 32,000 government employees to oversee the government schemes.

Somesh Punem, a Gundam native, said the villagers are now getting free rice, salt, gram and jaggery at their doorsteps after the opening of a PDS shop near the camp.

"Earlier we used to go to Tarem, which is 12 km away, for the ration. Now, we even have an electricity connection at our home," he said.

Another villager, Markam Dare, said they got an Aadhaar card, opened a bank account and have been getting cash transfer from the government. "The local health centre has been a great help to us."

According to the home ministry statistics, casualties among security forces have come down drastically in the last 10 years across the country.

There were 16,463 Naxal violence incidents between 2004 and 2014. The number came down to 7,744 in the period 2014-2024.

Similarly, deaths among security forces due to violent incidents have come down from 1,851 during 2004-2014 to 509 in 2014-2024, and casualties from 4,766 to 1,495 in the same period.

In the last one year, ever since the BJP government came to power in Chhattisgarh, 287 Naxals were killed, 992 were arrested and 831 others were forced to surrender.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)