Once upon a time they wore Red, heaved guns around their shoulders, and fought the police and the army. They are now at the forefront of the battle once again, but this time as commandos. In a first, the Chhattisgarh police have recruited 30 surrendered women Maoists into a commando unit the district reserve guard (DRG) in Dantewada of Bastar region, as per media reports.
The district reserve guard (DRG) of commandos take their name ‘Danteshwari Ladake’ from the state’s guardian deity and have recently gunned down two Maoists on May 9. According to the police sources, the action team which comprises of men as well, have already killed 5 Maoists commanders in a month.
The DRGs have been appreciated for their exemplary work in the Maoists’ self-proclaimed liberated zones like Abhujmad and south Sukma.
The DRG’s are deployed in the jungle of Malangir area where a BJP MLA, a dozen of policemen, and a Doordarshan journalist were killed in the last six months.
The idea to recruit ex Maoist women is credited to Abhishek Pallava, Dantewada SP. Once while visiting a surrendered Maoists camp, Pallava noticed that the men were trained and recruited in the district reserve guards, but women who went shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts during their Maoists days were mostly staying back at home to do housework. This sight made him reach out to Dineshwari Nand, District SP where he proposed the idea of a “unified combat force of women commandos”, reported Times of India.
To execute the idea, Pallava with his team recruited 30 local tribal women who were sent to the Kanker Jungle Warfare College for training in December 2018 which continued till March 2019. As of now, there are five male and one female company of DRG.
Pallava praised the camouflage technique used by these women commandos that helps them to fit in among villagers. This women task force is the most efficient in Malangir area of the Darbha division, as women Maoists here outnumber men, claims the police.
Another important reason to form an all-women task force was to lure more surrendered women Maoists to join the security forces. Police also believes that recruiting women commandos would actually help to reduce the complaints of human rights violations recorded against men-only task force.
Women DSP Dineshwari Nand who heads the ‘Danteshwari Ladake’ said that the female commandos are no less efficient than their male colleagues and the team would bring honour to the Bastar police.
