A whistleblower in the anti-Naxal CoBRA force has been suspended after he drew attention to serious violations in the Standard Operating Procedure during a Naxal ambush in Chhattisgarh this April.
The ambush resulted in the death of three CoBRA commandos while five others, including the whistleblower commando, Sujoy Mandal, were injured. In the suspension order, Mr. Mandal has been accused of “misconduct” and of proceeding on unauthorised leave.
Refusing to bow down under pressure, Mr. Mandal informed his superiors how on April 9, while returning from poll duty in the Chintagufa area of Sukma district, one of the sections of the F Company of the 206 CoBRA battalion was left in the lurch by deputy commandant Ramesh Kumar Singh.
As the group of six men which included Mr. Mandal came under heavy fire from Naxals, they received no support from Mr. Singh who had earlier, against all advice, violated several SOPs.
Mr. Singh had allegedly asked his troops to move in a single column instead of two (done so that one column prevents Naxals from attacking from behind). It is also believed that Mr. Singh had not even done his pre-induction training that every soldier — jawan or officer — is supposed to undergo before he joins CoBRA.
After the incident, Mr. Mandal said he received no help from the Central Reserve Police Force (of which CoBRA is a part) to treat serious injuries in the knee. He went on leave and got himself operated upon in a hospital in Kolkata with the help of Abhijit Mukherjee, MP.
He said he kept his Commandant in the loop about his leave and treatment. “Soon after they told me that my salary has been stopped. But I had told my Commandant about the treatment and had even sent him an application through registered post,” Mr. Mandal said.
Mr. Mandal’s wife Tithi said the family was under extreme duress. “We come from a very poor family and we had to spend Rs. 50,000 on its own to save the commando’s knee,” she said. “This is how the CRPF has paid him for his bravery,” she said.
In a recent internal note, Inspector-General (CoBRA), H.S. Sidhu, said there was a communication failure during the ambush and a lack of initiative by the officers.
