Special force COBRA to combat Naxal menace

New Delhi, Aug 28: Nearly a year after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had described Left-wing extremism as a "virus", the government has given the green signal to raise a 10,000-strong special anti-Naxal force COBRA. The nod to the Combat Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA), under the command and control of the CRPF, was given last evening by the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by the Prime Minister. K Durga Prasad, a 1981 batch IPS officer from Andhra Pradesh and an expert in handling the anti-naxal operations, is likely to take charge of the COBRA. The new force will be set up at a cost of Rs 1,389.47 crore out of which Rs 898.12 crore will be spent on land and infrastructure while Rs 491.35 crore will be used for manpower training over a period of three years. The CRPF, in the meantime, will provide its personnel till the recruitment and the training process of the fresh 10 battalions is completed. The Prime Minister, during his address to the top police brass in October last year, had called for setting up a special force to tackle Left-wing extremism. The COBRA personnel would be imparted special training in terrain and topography of their area of operation. The COBRA will be headquartered in the national capital and will have battalion headquarters in every Naxal-affected state. Naxalites have carried out several attacks this year which includes gunning down of more than two dozen personnel of Andhra Pradesh's elite force "Greyhounds" last month, killing of Orissa police personnel, political leaders and their kin.