The team of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) which lost 14 of its men in an encounter with the Maoists near Kasalpara village in Sukma on December 1 had “deviated” from its planned route, police sources told The Hindu .
“The CRPF men were not supposed to be at the place where the encounter took place. The encounter site was never on our planned route,” revealed a senior police officer posted in Bastar.
According CRPF sources, the “deviation from the planned route” took place because seven CRPF men were suffering from malaria.
“The jawans were showing signs of cerebral malaria. We had asked for a chopper to evacuate them on November 30 but the chopper refused to land citing lack of space leaving us with no option but to carry the sick personnel which slowed down our movement,” claimed a senior CRPF officer.
When the forces reached Kasalpara village and were ambushed by the ultras, a team led by CRPF Inspector General H. Sidhu was moving 1.5 km ahead while a small team led by a Commanding Officer (CO) of 223 CRPF battalion decided to engage the Maoists it spotted near the village.
“The CO’s location was not clear which prevented the team led by deputy commandant B.C. Verma from firing towards the village despite receiving firing from that side. Casualties could have been averted had the CO’s location been clear,” said another CRPF officer.
According to CRPF men from the team which was ambushed, Mr. Verma was alive when the Maoists snatched his weapons.
The CRPF officers could not explain how the Maoists managed to walk away with their weapons and ammunition despite the presence of hundreds of CRPF men.
“We had received inputs of the encounter at 3 p.m. and the choppers were told to be on standby. Our teams had sanitised the area by 4 p.m. but the choppers refused to fly for reasons unknown to us,” said a CRPF officer based in Jagdalpur who looks after chopper movements.
