Exclusive: CRPF Is Set For Surgical Dominance In Manipur, Naxal Playbook Is Now More Refined

As Manipur's simmering ethnic tensions are again in the light. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), in tight operational coordination with the state police and Assam Rifles, has dramatically upped the ante. With over 210 companies and more than 21,000 personnel already embedded across the conflict-ridden state, the CRPF's footprint in Manipur is substantial. With nearly 300 battle-hardened commandos landing in Manipur in early June 2026,  

These are not ordinary reinforcements. The CoBRA units being rushed into Manipur's difficult terrain carry with them something far more valuable than firepower  hard-won operational intelligence and tactical instinct forged in Bastar's Maoist heartland.  The 210 Battalion alone won the Best Operation Battalion Trophy 2025 after eliminating around 95 hardcore Maoists, playing a central role in making Chhattisgarh effectively Naxal-free.

The DG Message Was Decisive and Loaded

CRPF Director General G.P. Singh's words to the CoBRA personnel in Imphal carried the unmistakable weight of command authority. "If you don't fire at miscreants, then why has the government given us so much ammunition? "Till I am DG, all bona fide action will be taken care of." This is the language of an operationally confident commander, giving his troops both freedom of action and top cover.  A top source in the security establishment said that the current posturing of the CRPF is not just a force multiplier but also an offensive deterrent posture, and the DG's message further solidified this.

The Surgical Dominance

Top sources in the security establishment said that the CRPF in Manipur is set to pursue "Surgical Domination" rather than general force deployment. In a joint operational command setting, CRPF is expected to use surgical precision and dominance to attain security depth in neutralising armed groups operating in civilian spaces, disrupting command hierarchies, and denying militants any semblance of territorial control. The CoBRA units have developed a clean hold over preventive environmental control during Naxal Ops, where they create conditions on the ground that are inherently hostile to the regeneration of militant networks, cutting off recruitment pipelines, supply chains, and safe havens before they consolidate.

CRPF Northeast Playbook

There is rich institutional memory within CRPF that the force would do well to draw upon as it consciously recalibrates for Manipur. In the late 1970s, CRPF battalions were thrust deep into Mizoram's forbidding terrain to dismantle the Mizo National Front's (MNF) infrastructure and sever its cross-border coordination networks. The results spoke for themselves in December 1979 alone, CRPF units apprehended 19 insurgent cadres and seized significant caches of arms and ammunition in a single month of sustained operations.  CRPF's strategic law-and-order operations helped neutralise early ULFA networks in Assam and checkmated extremist elements in Tripura.

"CRPF's surgical operations posture delivered significant operational dividends to the security landscape of the Northeast," a top security establishment source noted. "That precision has now been upgraded and refined under G.P. Singh's leadership."

Hardening of CRPF

Under G.P. Singh, CRPF has undergone what can be fairly described as an institutional transformation. The deliberate decision to insert CoBRA units into unfamiliar, high-pressure theatres such as Jammu & Kashmir, beyond their traditional Maoist-belt mandate, was a calculated move to stress-test and broaden their operational bandwidth.  In just six months, the force has demonstrated upgraded operational mobility, inter-agency coordination capability, and leadership adaptability under pressure. The operational energy that G.P. Singh is visibly injecting will not only help restore peace in Manipur. It will cement its standing as India's most battle-tested and operationally versatile paramilitary force.