CRPF does cave intervention, kills 31 Maoists in 21-day action at Karreguttalu hills in Chhattisgarh

31 Maoists were killed in a high-impact operation carried out in the Karreguttalu hills.

Security forces have captured the Karreguttalu hills along the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border, once under the exclusive control of Maoists, killing 31 rebels during a mammoth three-week operation involving 26,000 personnel.

CRPF DG GP Singh on Wednesday said Operation Blackforest saw the force try out cave interventions for the first time, for the hills housed a network of 250 cave formations used by the Maoists as convenient hideouts, arms manufacturing units and to dump explosives and rations, according to a report by Times of India.

“CRPF has generally been doing house or vehicle interventions. For the first time, we tried cave interventions. We had used a technique and make sure that we do not suffer casualties but neutralise the Maoists who may be there,” the CRPF DG told the media.

The operation, titled Blackforest, which concluded on May 11, dismantled what authorities described as the unified headquarters of several Naxal formations, including the notorious People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) Battalion 1, the DKSZC, TSC, and the CRC.

“The hills which were ruled by red terror now proudly hoist the tricolour,” said Union home minister Amit Shah, calling it the “biggest operation till date.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, quoting Shah’s post on X, added: “This success of the security forces shows that our campaign towards rooting out Naxalism is moving in the right direction. We are fully committed to establishing peace in the Naxal-affected areas and connecting them with the mainstream of development.”

The joint operation, supported by the Indian Air Force (IAF), revealed an extensive network of approximately 250 caves converted into weapons manufacturing facilities. Four technical teams from Battalion 1 were manufacturing weapons for the armed insurgency army from this camp. Forces uncovered factories producing guns, grenades, and under-barrel grenade launchers, complete with generators powering the production facilities, a junior personnel involved in the operation told the Hindustan Times.

Security personnel also discovered nearly 450 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted throughout the hills. Fifteen undetected devices detonated during the operation, injuring 18 personnel. However, no security force fatalities were reported.