Outrage again in Sukma, villager too killed; did forces follow SOPIJ
About 200 Maoists ambushed a 44-member contingent of the CRPF and District Force (DF) in a forested patch close to Jheeram Ghati in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district massacring 15 policemen, including 11 paramilitary personnel, and a civilian around 10.30 am on Tuesday.
Incidentally, the attack has been suspected to be carried out by the trio of Ramanna-Surinder-Deva of Dharbaghati wing of Dhandkaryana Zonal Committee which was responsible for butchering 30 Congress leaders of Chhattisgarh, including then State Congress chief Nandkumar Patel and nine-time party MP and former Union Minister VC Shukla, on May 25 last year.
Sources said that the Maoists walked away with six AK-47 rifles and some other deadly weapons of the deceased cops after around three-hour long encounter. Three policemen who sustained multiple bullet wounds were airlifted to Raipur where a team of doctors operated upon them at a private hospital.
The security team blatantly violated Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), said sources. The team, which was deployed for the security of the workers engaged in road construction in Sukma, used to visit the site every day for last couple of days taking the same route, violating one of the cardinal principles of not taking a beaten track in the anti-Naxal operation theatre, officials said.
RK Vij, additional director general (Naxal operation), said that Maoists first exploded IEDs and then opened indiscriminate fire on the police team when it reached a site locked by hills on one side and by thick forest on the other.
“The troopers retaliated heavily but the bottom line is that 11 CRPF men, four District Force (DF) jawans, and a villager were massacred,’’ Vij told The Pioneer. He said that reinforcement had been rushed to the site to track down attackers.
Authorities in Sukma said that the joint team of the CRPF and the DF were sent to provide security to resume a deadlocked key road project which needs to be completed to allow forces to make deeper penetration in a forested and hilly area where the outlawed guerrillas are running the parallel Government since late 1980s.
Chief Minister Raman Singh, who was in Delhi, cut short his trip and returned to Raipur on Tuesday evening and took stock of the security situation in Bastar region, which is going to polls on April 10.
Terming it as an act of cowardice, Chief Minister Raman Singh said, “The injured have been shifted to hospital via helicopter to Raipur, medical assistance is being provided to them....The incident took place where roads are under construction, especially in Sukma district.”
The brazen Maoist attack on securitymen in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday sparked outrage among political parties and leaders as President Pranab Mukherjee led a chorus of demand that such actions should be put down with a firm hand.
“Terror and violence have no place in a civilised society. Such random attacks on security forces performing their duty must be put down with a firm hand,” the President said in a message to Chhattisgarh Governor Shekhar Dutt.
Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said: “We have taken it very seriously and we will fight the Naxals head on. Director General of CRPF (Dilip Trivedi) has been told to reach immediately.” He said it was too pre-mature to guess whose failure it was but said the “Naxal movement has to be dealt ruthlessly and we will do it.”
The attack comes despite warnings sent by Intelligence Bureau on February 17 asking the Naxal-hit States to be extra-cautious as banned CPI-Maoists had announced “Chunao Bashiskar” (poll boycott) programme and may intensify attacks on security personnel.
Bastar region spreads out in about 40,000 sqkm area and is made up of seven districts that include Sukma. The region which holds roughly 20 per cent of India’s iron ore deposits has witnessed a string of massive deadly strikes by Maoists in recent years.
In April 2010, the Maoists had killed 76 cops in the same area where Maoists claim to fight for poor tribal peasants and labourers. Meanwhile, in Raipur the Opposition Congress tried to extract political mileage from the killing ahead of the lok Sabha polls and termed the incident a complete “operational and intelligence failure” and sought the resignation of Raman Singh.