Naxals fly drones in Bastar, shoot-at-sight ordered

New Delhi: Shoot-at-sight orders have been issued to security forces deployed across Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected states after a ‘serious and new’ threat of possession and operation of drones by Maoist cadres came to light recently, officials said on Sunday.

The latest directive by a unified command of security and intelligence agencies at the Centre comes in the wake of a maiden incident where drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were seen hovering over a strategically important Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp in the worst Naxal-violence affected district of Sukma in Chhattisgarh’s south Bastar region.

As per official communication shared by ground forces, official sources said, “Small red and white light emitting drones” were seen flying near the camp in Kistaram and Pallodi last month at least four times in three days. The drones emitted a “low whizzing sound” that drew attention of camp guards after which offensive position was taken by troops and an alert sounded across all the nearby camps anticipating possible trouble by Naxals.