Team News Riveting
Raipur, November 10
Battling the grave conditions, Indian Air Force (IAF) played a crucial role to ensure free and fair elections in the Maoist-infested pockets in Chhattisgarh.
Besides the 12 constituencies in Bastar region, otherwise infamous for the deadly Maoist violence in the past, 20 assembly constituencies in Chhattisgarh went to the polls in the first phase of elections on November 7. For the poll panel, deploying the parties in the interior areas of the red zone has always been a daunting task. The IAF eased the pressure and worked relentlessly to facilitate the deployment and evacuation of parties along with voting machines.
The seriousness of the situation could be gauged by the fact that polling parties from many areas could reach the headquarters only on Thursday, two days after the polling. The Election Commission has reduced the timing of polling till 3 pm in the Maoist-infested belt. It was necessitated to ensure IAF choppers fly in daylight to bring back the parties. On the polling day, IAF choppers lifted the presiding officers and voting machines on priority.
The Chhattisgarh Electoral Officer saluted the IAF. “Defying all challenges, the Indian Air Force conducted 404 sorties with Eight MI 17s, securely ferrying 853 polling team members to and from from 43 locations, enabling a successful electoral process in a tough LWE affected region,” the officer took to X.
The IAF completed the mission successfully despite being in the radar of rebels. Though the Maoists had been targeting the IAF choppers on evacuation missions, it was only in 2008 they hit the machine deployed on election duties.
In November 2008, the rebels targeted an IAF chopper soon after it took off from Pedia in Bijapur with voting machines, personnel and casualties. The bullets hit flight engineer sergeant Mustafa Ali and he was martyred in the cockpit itself. Mustafa was hit on the head after the bullet pierced through the windshield.
Squadron leader Tarun Kumar Chaudhari showed exemplary courage, lifted the chopper despite serious damage caused to rotorcraft, engines and fuel tank. He flew the chopper in the dark for an hour and safely landed at Jagdalpur, the divisional headquarters of Bastar.
