Operation Green Hunt was the name used by the Indian media to describe the Government of India

Government of India

The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...

's paramilitary

Paramilitary

A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....

 offensive

Offensive (military)

An offensive is a military operation that seeks through aggressive projection of armed force to occupy territory, gain an objective or achieve some larger strategic, operational or tactical goal...

 against the Naxalite

Naxalite

The word Naxal, Naxalite or Naksalvadi is a generic term used to refer to various militant Communist groups operating in different parts of India under different organizational envelopes...

 rebels in the late 2000s. The operation began in November 2009 along five states in the "Red Corridor

Red corridor

The Red Corridor is a term used to describe an impoverished region in the east of India that experiences considerable Naxalite communist insurgency...

."

The term was coined by the Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh is a state in Central India, formed when the 16 Chhattisgarhi-speaking South-Eastern districts of Madhya Pradesh gained separate statehood on 1 November 2000....

 police officials to describe one successful drive against the Communist Party of India (Maoist)

Communist Party of India (Maoist)

The Communist Party of India is a Maoist political party in India which aims to overthrow the government of India through violent means. It was founded on 21 September 2004, through the merger of the People's War, and the Maoist Communist Centre . The merger was announced to the public on October...

 in the state. It was erroneously used by the media to describe the wider anti-Naxalite operations; the Government of India doesn't use the term "Operation Green Hunt" to describe its anti-Naxalite offensive.

Planning and implementation

In October 2009, the Central Reserve Police Force

Central Reserve Police Force

The Central Reserve Police Force also known as CRPF is the largest of India's Central Armed Police Forces. It functions under the aegis of Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India. The CRPF's primary role lies in assisting the State/Union Territories in police operations to maintain...

 (CRPF) announced that it was in the final stages of planning the offensive and had received approval from the Union

United Progressive Alliance

The United Progressive Alliance is a ruling coalition of center-left political parties heading the government of India. The coalition is led by the Indian National Congress , which is currently the single largest political party in the Lok Sabha...

-led government. The Commando Battalion for Resolute Action

Commando Battalion for Resolute Action

COBRA is a specialized unit of the CRPF created to counter the Naxalite problem in India. This specialized CRPF unit is one of the only units of the Central Armed Police Forces in the country who are specifically trained in guerilla warfare...

 (COBRA) would take the lead in the operations against Maoist insurgents.

At the beginning of November 2009, the first phase of the operation began in Gadchiroli district

Gadchiroli District

Gadchiroli district is an administrative district in Maharashtra, India. The town of Gadchiroli is the administrative headquarters of the district....

. As many as 18 companies of the central paramilitary forces were moved into the area in anticipation of the operation.

Maoist response

As a response to the offensive, the insurgents launched several high-profile attacks on the Indian security forces:

• On February 15, 2010 at least 25 policemen died after Maoists overran a security cam
  Silda camp attack
  The Silda camp attack occurred on February 15, 2010, when dozens of Naxalite Maoist insurgents ambushed Indian security forces in Silda in West Bengal, India...
  
  p in West Bengal state. Naxalite-Maoist leader Kishenji claimed responsibility for the attack. He was quoted as saying that, "We have attacked the camp and this is our answer to P. Chidambaram
  P. Chidambaram
  P. Chidambaram or Chidambaram Palaniappan, sometimes written Palaniappan Chidambaram is an Indian politician with the Indian National Congress and present Union Minister of Home Affairs of the Republic of India. Previously he was the Finance Minister of India from May 2004 to November 2008...
  
  's [the Indian Minister of Internal Affairs] 'Operation Green Hunt' and unless the Centre stops this inhuman military operation we are going to answer this way only."
• On April 6, 2010, Maoist rebels killed 75 policemen/CRPF men in a jungle ambush
  April 2010 Maoist attack in Dantewada
  The 2010 Dantewada Maoist attacks, were a ambush by rebels from the Communist Party of India in Dantewada district, India, killing 76 CRPF policemen and 8 Maoists — the deadliest attack by the Maoists on Indian security forces....
  
  in central India in the worst-ever massacre of security forces by the insurgents. On the same day, Gopal, a top Maoist leader, said the attack was a "direct consequence" of the government's Operation Green Hunt offensive. This raised some voices of use of Indian Air Force against Naxalites, which were however declined citing "We can't use oppressive force against our own people".
• On June 29, 2010, At least 26 policemen have been killed in a Maoist attack in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh.