Decades of jungle warfare, ambushes, and silent sacrifice converged into a single moment of national salute on Police Commemoration Day, Wednesday, October 21, 2026, as Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta shared a powerful tribute quoting Union Home Minister Amit Shah, honouring the forces that have fought to dismantle Naxalism from India's heartland.

Quoting Home Minister Amit Shah, CM Gupta's post read: 'दशकों पुराने नक्सलवाद को समाप्त करने में कोबरा और CRPF के जवानों ने अदम्य साहस का परिचय दिया' — 'In eliminating decades-old Naxalism, the CoBRA and CRPF jawans displayed indomitable courage' — and further acknowledged that Chhattisgarh Police had shown extraordinary valour in the same campaign.

CoBRA and CRPF: the sharp edge of counter-Naxal operations

The Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) is the CRPF's elite jungle-warfare unit, raised specifically to take the fight into the dense forests of Bastar and other Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected districts of central India. Operating in terrain that heavily favours an entrenched insurgency, CoBRA battalions have led some of the most strategically difficult counter-insurgency missions the country has seen since independence.

The broader Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has been the federal government's primary instrument in this theatre for decades, with successive expansions of its battalions matching the scale of the Maoist challenge across Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, and neighbouring states.

Chhattisgarh Police's frontline role in Bastar

Alongside central forces, the Chhattisgarh Police — and particularly its district reserve guards and specialised anti-Naxal units — have borne the daily cost of patrolling terrain that has historically been among the most lethal for security personnel in India. Home Minister Shah's quoted words specifically singled out the state force's 'extraordinary valour,' a recognition of how much of this campaign has been fought by officers from the very communities most affected by LWE violence.

Police Commemoration Day and the weight it carries

Police Commemoration Day is observed every year on October 21, marking the 1959 ambush in Hot Springs, Ladakh, in which ten Indian police personnel were killed by Chinese forces — the first significant loss after the 1950 annexation of Tibet. Over time, the day expanded into a national moment to honour all police and paramilitary personnel who have fallen in the line of duty, making it the fitting occasion for tributes to those lost in the long counter-Naxal campaign.

The Union government has, since the early 2000s, pursued a twin-track approach to LWE — sustained security operations combined with accelerated infrastructure and development spending in affected districts — with official assessments pointing to a gradual reduction in the geographic footprint of Maoist influence over the years.

The bravery cited today did not happen in a vacuum. Every metre of ground taken back from armed insurgency in Chhattisgarh's forests came at a cost measured in lives — and Police Commemoration Day exists precisely so that cost is never forgotten.