March 13 in latehar, Chatra and Palamu proved too inauspicious for the cops. A couple of CRPF jawans got hurt in cross firing at latehar only to get rushed to hospital in Ranchi for treatment. The injuries came not from the Naxals but from security forces.
This cross firing is to invite a court of inquiry. A DIG of CRPF BK Sharma said the court of inquiry will try to find out the reasons behind the cross firing and will also assay if the cross firing was avoidable and who to be blamed for the firing mess. The court of inquiry recommends the
punishment but not awards it the DIG reminded.
The latehar fiasco occurred at such a time when the polls are so slated for April 10 here. Nothing gives the Maoists any more glee than to see the fiasco of an elite force like CRPF which has so done a dismal act in latehar . The troops fired at each other while the Maoists for whom the troops were out just basked under the sun said sources.
The Palamu Chatra episode is far more tragic as a highly talented officer Ravi Shankar Mishra the ASP ( Ops) Chatra lost his one leg, one eye and 70% loss of eye sight of the other eye in the blast of the IED laid down by the Maoists which he and his men wanted to extract without weighing the risks and the dangers of doing it.
The DIG CRPF Sharma said “At this time of our extreme concern and pain we all pray for the recovery of this good officer MIshra who lost so many things and is battling for life”.
Police and CRPF sources said the ASP ( Ops) not wanting in any experience just fell to the temptation of extracting the IED. Had he left it in situ position nothing would have come to him and 6 other cops too.
There was no bomb disposal squad then at the site where this IED was. The ASP ought to have left this IED to be handled by the BDS. He tried his hand and took all the blunt of the blast losing one eye, damaging sight of the other eye and one leg all in just 15 minutes time.
A CRPF source said such IED can be neutralized with another TNT slab in which the destroyer ( TNT slab) and the object to be destroyed both are devastated without any risk or danger to any one’s limb.
The Maoists were lurking around Chak on the night of March 12/13. The Maoists had even fired in the air said the SP Palamu Y S Ramesh. The cops ought to have felt the Maoists could not be without their sinister design and in this IED they showed it up their diabolical design.
As regards cross firing among troops and injuries in extraction of IED only one word is suffice to say ‘ Use common sense and save life’ said an IPS officer who had served Palamu for a long time.
If lack of co ordination and improper communication led to cross firing among troops in latehar then impulsive and adventurous zeal of the cops led to the spate of injuries to cops on Palamu Chatra border. Both were avoidable said sources.