A day after nine CRPF personnel were killed in a land mine attack by Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s extreme insurgency infested Sukma district in Bastar, Union Minister of State for Home, Hansraj Ahir on Wednesday said there was no intelligence failure and asserted that the government was committed to ensuring the security of troopers deployed in anti-insurgency operations.
He said that the government wants to arm the security forces with the latest combat equipment.
Ahir visited the camp of the Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) here this morning and paid homage to the nine Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel killed yesterday after Naxals blew up their mine protected vehicle (MPV) using an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Sukma district.
“Our jawans sacrificed their lives while fighting a tough battle. We are pained over the incident and at the same time taking this as a challenge. People of the country hope that this will not be repeated and the Centre is alert over it,” Ahir told reporters here.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh have expressed their condolences over the incident, and the Centre has been thinking seriously to ensure the security of its jawans and avoid such incidents in future, the Minister said.
He said that yesterday morning, an exchange of fire took place between the CoBRA personnel and Naxals. “It means, we had inputs but the ultras always look for a chance to target,” he said.
Rather than inducting forces, we want to arm the security forces with the latest equipment to further strengthen them. We will also focus on the intelligence mechanism, the Minister said.
Besides focussing on modernisation of the security forces, the government has also been looking for the latest technology on the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) detection techniques, Ahir said.
“Every insurgency infested state has been taking the left Wing Extremism (lWE) as a challenge. The central forces and the state police are fighting in full coordination against the menace,” he said.
The Minister later denied the probability of deploying the Army to tackle Naxals in the Bastar region.
He was speaking at the headquarters of 4th battalion of the Chhattisgarh Armed Force in the Mana Camp area here early this morning.
It may be recalled that nine CRPF personnel were killed and two others injured after Naxals blew up their mine protected vehicle (MPV) while they were patrolling on the Kistaram-Palodi route in Sukma. The rebels used over 50 kgs of explosives to blast the vehicle. The victims were from to the CRPF’s 212th battalion.