Two platoons of CRPF-State police team ambushed
Fifteen security personnel were killed in a Maoist ambush on Tuesday in Sukma district of south Chhattisgarh. One civilian, Vikram Nishad, also died in the crossfire, while three were injured.
Additional Director-General of Police Mukesh Gupta said 11 of the personnel who died belonged to the CRPF, while four were from the Chhattisgarh police.
The incident took place when a joint team of the CRPF and the police — about 50 personnel divided into two platoons — were moving from Tongpal village to Jeeram Ghati, the same area where a Maoist ambush had killed 27 people last May.
The team was engaged in an area domination exercise to sanitise the area for troop movements and also to provide security to road construction workers. About 100 Maoists surrounded them and opened fire.
Sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in Delhi said an alert had been sounded last month in view of the Lok Sabha elections.
Against procedure
An MHA official said prima facie there appeared to have been a complete violation of the standard operating procedure as the security personnel had been taking the same route for the past couple of days.
After the ambush, the Maoists planted explosives in a soldier’s body, Inspector-General of Bastar A.D. Gautam said. But they apparently did not plant any bomb at the ambush site, as they normally do, as no explosive was recovered till evening.
What has surprised many is Maoist mobilisation on one of the busiest highways of south Chhattisgarh. “The pace with which the Maoists assembled, ambushed and disappeared in an area where there are police and paramilitary camps is unbelievable,” an eyewitness said.
Inspector-General of CRPF in Chhattisgarh H.S. Sidhu said they had not released the names of the security personnel who died as they would like to inform the families first.
All CRPF men belonged to 80 Battalion.
Rebels have been active in the area for a long time. This is the second major attack on security forces in the past fortnight. On February 28, five security personnel were killed in a Maoist attack in Dantewada.
(With additional reporting by Devesh K. Pandey in New Delhi)
Keywords: Chhattisgarh Naxal attack, Sukma district, Police-Naxal gunbattle, anti-terrorism operations, CRPF deaths
When the enemy goes lunatic, Gandhian principles fail. Then stand
tall, the methods of Bhagat Singh. So in order ‘to make the deaf hear’
bullets need to be answered with bullets, just proper training needs
to be imparted to CRPF and well equipped field forces embedded with
local conditions are required .The solution can be based on the
‘Tripura model’ which has almost overcome a three decade long war by
synergistically working with development and crackdown on extremists.
The strength of the state government had been in raising the field
forces, by winning the sympathy of local people and inculcating them
in combative operations.
That the Maoists on Tuesday killed nearly one-and-a-half dozen people
from:
S. Ramakrishnasayee
Posted on: Mar 12, 2014 at 12:49 IST
including 11 CRPF police personnel in Chhattisgarh really exposed the
unpreparedness of the state to prevent such ghastly acts. Do not we
have intelligence machinery to feed the government on the movements of
the nefarious elements and ensure safety of the people at all times?
Be that as it may, the governments (in terror/naxal ─ infested areas),
one feels, can purchase some naxalite elements offering them a
lucrative sum (the trade which the politicians have mastered over the
years) and use them to combat naxalism/terrorism. This may sound a
dangerous idea, but not as dangerous as having inept and ineffective
governance.
How do you know that the civilian was killed in cross fire and not due to Maoist attack? Biased reporting?
The state government and central government should upgrade the security
personnel`s (state police,CRPF,CISF etc deployed in naxal affected
areas) weapons and arms with a internal transmitter or GPS,so that if
Naxalites takes the weapon of security personnels after an ambush they
can be tracked and can be attacked on their base camps with heavily
armed forces so that we can outnumber them.
The military must step in. The Maoists will stop at nothing to achieve their aim which is to topple the government and seize power. Till now they have been treated with kid gloves. Negotiations do not work with terrorists with single point agenda. More blood will be shed by these anti-nationals unless a strong military action is taken. These Maoists should not be considered as one of our country.
800 Million impoverished, malnourished Indians would side with Maoists
if they are informed what the stand for, Indian Government only
represents Upper Caste, Upper Class, mostly corrupt, mostly wealthy
(inside and outside India) and 300 Million do not know if they are poor
or are they middle class. Theoretically, Maoists can take over India.
This is due to Political Interest, the innocent Forces are sacrifice their valuable life, If this type of process is going on time will come these Maoist smash these political parties and rule their own Govt
As a Indian suggested that out of these own political interest finished these Terrorist from our soil for peace and Tranquility
It is extremely regretful matter for all of us that we have lost our jawan for a worthless act. It is duty of the ministers to resolve the matter in round table what they (Maoist/terrorist)actually want.What is there need and y they took the life of innocent soldiers. As long as we are not able to solve the matter diplomatically we have to give our soldier to their cannon fodder. We only raise our voice for this week or may be next week and after that we will forget everything. But the govt. should think about the families of death soldiers and should take initiative on that ground if there is a little bit sympathy for the general mankind of "Bharat".
If the Indian government continues to play politics with the Naxals and the Jawans, it
wont be long when China would be arming these Naxals and weaken India to a point
where the North Eastern territory would fall into Chinese control. India politics stings
and has made India the weakest country in the world. No one respects India when
even Maldives, Mauritius and Sri Lanka can dictate to this lazy sloppy elephant called
India. The fault is with all Indians. Change the corrupt crooks in power.
Sir, now nobody is sensitive emotional ,hearing such killings of the cops or soldiers
also as it became routine. This government is coward, namesake,no action taken to
put an end or not recurrence of such tragedies. HENCE THE REMEDY IS strong leader
and efficient government. cops as well as people are dying like flies and no stern
action from the ruling party. Even for one persons life how other countries fight is to
be seen by our leaders.shame on India.
My condolence to those were killed;but my question is those who were killed are not ordinary citizen, they are supposed to be highly trained in combat and we depend on them to safeguard our country.If they can be murdered in broad day light by bunch of naxalites, will they be able to safeguard our country from enemy forces who are highly trained? Are we living in false security???????
This incident again reminds the world that India is another failed state. The existence of both
central and state home ministry is irrelevant to common man. Our heart goes for the poor
cops who took up this job to fetch food for their families and gave their life in the line of duty.
Our leaders call them "Our Own People" so they don't take then
seriously and term them as terrorists. Had this incident happened on
Kashmir's border everyone would have stood against Pakistan and
Terrorism but no one cares for the terrorism which seeds in our own
country. I don't think that dealing with Maoists should be a big
problem for us. There are no border issues and no need to have
intelligence and RAW to intercept the planning. Just send our Army and
Air force to the affected area and eliminate them all. For how long we
will led our people live in fear in so termed Red Corridors of India?
But I also feels that Human Rights commission should be disbanded at
the earliest because definitely it will pave the hurdle in this
elimination process. This also shows that our Politicians have no
sympathy for an ordinary persons death, only their lives are life and
others are AAM AADMI who lives and dies daily.
Again!the same rebels;the same method:the same target and the same
result.These attacks continue unabated and still there is no
learning.Three state failures have exacerbated the crisis.First, state
abdication, absence of effective civilian administration in several
tribal areas. Second, state as a predator, as in many parts, law and
order machinery is considered a source of insecurity catalyzing a
vicious circle as repressive measure leads to more alienation,
inviting greater repression in return. Third , state’s failure to be
impartial ,which is reflected in two domains: policing and politics.
It is in fact politics- judgement and choices on the part of
leadership, both national and local that have morphed movements of
political dissent into a crisis.Moreover, red rebels are besotted with
guns , as neither they curb violence nor are they willing to talk to
the government. CRPF ,still,is not able to match their skills in
guerilla warfare, which is in fact the hallmark of naxalites.
Who should we blame? The State Govt or the Centre? or the NAC for not
bringing up proper strategies to deal with this sensitive issue. I am
also baffled by the inconsistent stance taken by the Human Rights'
group. Rather than heeding to the Intel warnings, if only our govt
heeded to the Naxals' plea's years ago, innocent lives wouldn't have
been sacrificed. At least wake up now!
Maoists are to be treated at par enemies of country and these elements are to be crushed once for all with an iron hand and their sympathisers also must be booked under treason act or waging war against country.
One has to be ruthless with extremists.
Aggressive plan is required to catch them Red handed.
In Kargil officers also died along with soldiers but here we see only jawans dying .Not a single officer died in any ambush so far. It means officers are not staying and operating with men.
If IPS officers stay behind then who will guide them in action. Advance training is given to officers not jawans.
Automatic weapons and helicopters must be utilized .As present commandos are protecting VIP and helicopters’ also used by VIP visits .Please send them to where it is required most.
Last but not the least motivation factor comes once sepoy knows that officers are ahead and netas are with them for support.
If police or Para military can’t coordinate and handle the issue then hand them over to ARMY and deploy them at that area.
Can take help of Retd (Army) veterans of Chattishgarh for planning strategies and training in covert warfare.
Lives of these innocent uniformed-men of Indian State have been lost,
only because of the ruling class, and its brutal countersurgency as
response to the socio-economic issue of the working masses-
propertyless- people. The State has been adopting thousands of
undemocratic tricks such as Salwa Judum (which unleashed a group of
clan, equipped with the state-supplied guns, on the rest of tribes to
loot and rape). The tribal natural habitats are in a process of
ENCLOSURE, and their culture is severed from nature by the
privatisation of natural resources. Behind all these violent policies,
there is only hunger for minerals, coal, and iron ore, disguised under
coy pseudonym such as-development. It is argued that around 3 lakh
military men have surrounded the citizens of the hill regions that come
under the Janatana Sarkar or the Liberated Zone! Why against these
innocent tribes? Why the state should have moved its weaponry and
warfare institutions so deep inside culturally sensitive areas?
“In June 2005, Mahendra Karma called a secret meeting of Mukhiyas and
announced the Salwa Judum (Purification Hunt). Alovely mélange of
tribal earthiness and Nazi sentiment. Salwa Judum was a ground
clearing operation, meant to move people out of their villages into
roadside camps, where they could be policed and controlled. Villagers
who did not move into camps would be considered Maoists. So in Bastar,
for an ordinary villager, just staying at home, living an ordinary
life, became the equivalent of indulging in dangerous terrorist
activity. Between June and December 2005,Salwa Judum burned, killed,
raped and looted its way through hundreds of villages of south
Dantewada...The Judum came to Korseel, Ajitha’s village, and killed
three people by drowning them in a stream. Ajitha was with the
militia, and followed the Judum at a distance to a place close to the
village called Paral Nar Todak. She watched them rape six women and
shot a man in his throat."Arundhati Roy says in Walking with the
Comrades which is the second essay of her book ‘Broken Republic’
Repeated killing of our forces clearly shows two things. One that Naxals have infiltrated local police offices and get true and detailed intelligence of our troop movement enabling them to attack at places where the force is at disadvantage. Secondly the senior police officers of CRPF have little training about policing, and they do not care about life lost and weapons snatched.
Thease naxals attach politicians very rarely and they attach security personnel only most of the times. This indicates that the politicians have back door dealings with naxals and innocent security personnel dedicated for the safety of our country are made scape goats in the process. Investigations should focus involvement of pocitics also in all encounters.
And yet again there will be a whole horde of people defending these terrorists, simply because they were mistreated by government. Going by this logic - who has not faced harassment by one or other government official or department in our country. My grandparents too were landless farmers but they did not join some Naxal movement. They sent my father and siblings to school. I am certain we are doing better than any Naxal will ever do - and that too without blood on my hands.
I don't know why the Indian Government shut it's mouth after a lot of deaths by The Indian Terrorists. why government is waiting and for what? And what is value of the soldiers those who gave their life in that brutal killings. Media is playing important role in this "Democratic" country but why media also hesitates to write what is going on in between Government and Indian terrorists.
This is one of the cruel behavior of Naxals. After this much Government must care about this problem.
Why can't the media call a spade a spade!! Shouldn't they be labelled
as "Terrorists" instead of "Naxal" or "Maoist", to me this seems like
an act of terrorism, had this same incident happened with the
murderers being "Muslim" by religion the article would have read "16
Killed in Chhattisgarh Terrorist Attack".
When a crazy Muslim kills someone he's identified by his religion but
when someone else other than a Muslim kills someone they are
identified by their group rather than by their religion.
Religion is peaceful but the people who follow it may only be namesake
followers....
Strongly decry violence in all forms but the main culprit that is conspicuously unnamed is government sponsored predatory capitalism. Unfortunately, the poor people being targeted are themselves victims of this merciless capitalistic order. While the real crime is being committed by the ministers who boast of giving environmental clearance for 70 projects in 20 days and are currently self-consumed in rolling out the red carpet for the agro-industrial complex.
The fight against Naxals is done in a very casual manner . Even big armies have been defeated when small band of rebels attack with an element of surprise . The arms and ammunition lost by the police and CRPF will be used by them for their additional members. In this case in spite of intelligence report this unit has been deployed without back up . In all such searches a group takes the lead but the surrounding stations should be on alert to move reinforcements to surround the attackers and capture some of them at least . We may not have money to buy expensive fighter planes but we have good communication and what is required is mobility for the forces to quickly reach the spot for reinforcing the fighting lead group .
Why we call it Naxal attack, not the Terror attack
Its really unfortunate to hear the news. I think the govt. is not
taking so seriously them, or else there would be no such incidents
could be happened again and again. They are just killing our jawans. I
don't understand one thing , how come the maoists buy so much
sophisticated arms????where do they get the money??? The deals must
happens somewhere in India. Then when we have CID, RAW, IB and CBI ,
why can't the govt. stop them from such deals. The intentions of the
govt. is very doubtful. I don't think they want to finish them for
their own benefits. The air force should be deployed for bombing in
the maoists known hideout. But of course after evicting the general
public. They should be wiped down from the places.
Please no rubbish about how this is a result of alienation of the people, because of bad policies of the government. This is unprovoked mass murder, nothing more. It's not even retaliation for something the CRPF et al have done, it's simply an attempt to establish a Naxalite ruled area.
Very worst incident in india, there should not be a mercy and compromise to those killed our soldiers...
I think, political class are not been able to solve this problem or negotiate.If they have tried hard there may be negotiation.Army and special force must be used only in extreme cases.government, president, NHRC have to take a call for Army.
Sir, Not having a tough law for acting strict against terrorism,
absolute no law enforcement, lack of political will by the ruling
government, which only hampers on debates on secularism verses
communalism, failure of intelligence, nepotism in cadres who deal with
these challenges/making the system devoid of merit all are the causes
of such ultra left wing terror. When the government's police force is
targeted, it deems attack on the state. Nobody seems to bother and
such incidents are bound to happen frequently in the future. It is
high time that the government asserts and enforces law and curbs the
menace of left wing terrorism. Would that happen in the near future? A
good million dollar question.
Enough is Enough.Water is above head now.These "Naxalites-People of our country" now deserve some tough action. It is costing our nation too much. Time has come to deploy Army in the affected areas. Army is best equipped to tackle this nonsense. Think about the family of deceased CRPF or Police personnel. Doing Duty in affected area, was it their fault...
Naxals should know that the police personnel are from poor families and are the sole
earners from their families.
These attacks would cause untold misery to the very same people you want to help by
your ideology.
It is understandable that you consider attacking the police and CRPF as an attack on
the government, but unfortunately the effect is felt not on the higher ups in the
government or corporate world, but on the lower most cadres of the police.
It is very shameful for governance under which we are spending a life.
This results in death of common people as well as cops seldom any politician because actually what they do you know they give promise to every person at the time of election that will redadicate this humurous concerns but they do only for making vote bank nthelse..so in this situation only we are sacrificing rather they tell emotional fool words in place of giving assurance at that time..
So do yourself better than politician belief and never vote in 2014 any party around this area.
The cycle of violence continues unabated. The perpetrators are
declared terrorists, and the administration will not see them
differently. The very premise which created these violent outfits -
imposed poverty, negligence of the people, and gross violence
inflicted on them by the police and administrators - has always been
lost. Now, the security forces will look to regroup, and shed blood on
the other side. The cycle will keep on moving. The authorities will
fight elections, build temples and mosques, ban books and films and
merely watch these two groups kill each other further.
Oh!This is very bad news for India.When we will stop naxel attack?
Why naxl attack on the police, which is basic reason behind that?
It is responsibilities of our government as well as common people
Something do that to avoid such event.Increase police force and give
special training to face naxl.
I feel sorry for the families of those personnel who got killed. Our
leadership must feel their pain and try to find a permanent solution of
this naxal problem as basically this problem has got its root in lack of
governance in these areas. This violence must be put to an end.
Please Email the Editor