Giving a new mantra to over 70,000 CRPF troops engaged in anti-Naxal operations, its chief K Vijay Kumar has asked them to turn 'junglee' (inhabitants of forests) and hit the Maoists "hard" before eliminating them.
Kumar, who took over the reins of the force after the paramilitary suffered its biggest ever setback in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada where Naxals ambushed 75 men in 2010, has asked his men to be like hunters, who hide in the area of the hunt and ultimately "neutralise" it.
"Your adversary is far too inferior than you- in training, in equipment, in physical strength, in tactics, in weaponry, in number, in food he takes. He cannot give you a face to fight. He believes in hiding, hitting and running.
This is his strength.
"Let us also modify our tactics- be like hunters, hide in his area and hit him hard. Learn to be a junglee," Kumar said in his recent official communication to his troops to boost their morale.
More than 70 CRPF battalions are deployed in various states, difficult terrains and dense forests to undertake anti-Maoist offensives and Kumar has made it a practice to write to them every month, since he took over in October 2010.
Decoding the Naxal modus-operandi, Kumar, who is credited to have eliminated forest brigand Veerappan as head of the STF in 2004, said, "Just like a snail, let us carry our rations and load on our back and stay in jungle for longer duration, invisible, silent to let him fall in our trap and hit him hard, pushing him back.
"The harder we push, the more of them (Naxals) will get neutralised. The more of them get neutralised, the fewer of us will have casualities. So remember pushing means fewer casualities...continue it in every skirmish he (Naxals) dares to have with you," the Director General wrote to them in a signed letter.
Kumar, a winner of Presidents Police Medal for gallantry in 2005, recounted successful operations conducted by the force in the forests of Bheji and Palnar (Chhattisgarh), Saranda (Jharkhand), Lalgarh (West Bengal) and Makarchuha (Maharashtra) and exhorted his men to continue their stride.
He also told his men, what he and other senior officers at the force headquarters in the national capital are doing for the betterment of jawans.
"While you are engaged in pushing the anti-national elements hard, we at force headquarters have been pushing various proposals to the ministry (Ministry of Home Affairs) and getting the sanctions to make service conditions better each day," Kumar a 1975-batch officer of Tamil Nadu cadre wrote.
The CRPF DG also said that each one of his force personnel have to be fighting fit to achieve the objective they have been entrusted with.
You are the bulk of this force. A very important and reliable part of this big machine. Each one of you have to be capable of fighting and winning the fight against our adversaries. For this, each of you have to be fighting fit, rich in courage and sound in tactics. Remember, one weak constable can ruin the efforts of entire section and each strong constable can double up the efforts of the section.
"Hence, you cannot be a weak-link in the section," the DG wrote, with a stern warning in the end.
The chief of the about 3-lakh personnel force also opened a communication channel with his troops and asked them to e-mail him their "problems".
Kumar's letter, which bears his photograph in police uniform, was dotted by famous quotes by former American Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.
Kumar has begun a host of new measures and physical training modules for both jawans and officers and is popular in the force as a chief "who lands at operational bases stealthily to conduct ambushes and special operations."
