IMPHAL / NEW DELHI:
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has authorized a critical strategy shift by clearing the deployment of two elite battalions from the Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) to strife-torn Manipur. This marks the first time that India’s premier, specialized guerrilla and jungle warfare commandos are being introduced into the state to handle operational duties amid deep-seated ethnic unrest.
Mobilization of Specialized Units
According to senior defense and security officials, the structural shift involves moving two specific highly trained units:
- The 207th CoBRA Battalion: Mobilizing from its regional base in West Bengal.
- The 210th CoBRA Battalion: Mobilizing from its regional station in Assam.
Each battalion comprises roughly 1,000 elite commandos trained to execute intelligence-led operations in treacherous terrains. Security sources report that these forces are scheduled to be fully positioned on the ground within the coming weeks. Their primary objective is to conduct surgical, targeted actions against armed groups fueling local instability.
Pivoting from the Anti-Naxal Front
Established in 2008–09, the CoBRA force was explicitly raised to dismantle Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) across central and eastern India. The force holds 10 specialized battalions nationwide, which have historically operated out of dense forest hotbeds in states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Odisha.
Because heavy armed Maoist violence has drastically lowered across traditional red corridors, the government is adapting its internal security apparatus. The reduction of operational intensity in traditional LWE theaters—where remaining tasks focus heavily on detecting hidden improvised explosive devices (IEDs)—has allowed security planners to reallocate these elite jungle units to pressing crises, such as the ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur that has impacted over 260 lives since May 2023.