In a brazen attack in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, Naxalites ambushed a security team killing 15 jawans, 11 of whom were from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and 4 from the district police. An estimated 300 guerrillas attacked the patrol party in Jeerum Nallah area of Sukma district, just 400 kilometres from state capital of Raipur. The CRPF men belonged to the 80th Battalion.
This is the biggest attack by Maoists in the last three years and the carnage happened weeks before Lok Sabha elections in Bastar are scheduled. Maoists triggered landmine blasts and resorted to indiscriminate firing on the security personnel.
The Maoists then walked away with AK-47 assault rifles, Grenade Launchers, a Light Machine Gun (LMG), INSAS rifles, SLRs and wireless sets, among other arms and ammunition.
A massive manhunt has been launched to nab the attackers who escaped in the thick jungles. Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters were also sent in for rescue and relief operations. Reinforcements were drawn from the CoBRA battalion and CRPF. But since the area is heavily mined, reinforcements had to tread cautiously.
The Maoist attack was vociferously condemned by all political parties. President Pranab Mukherjee said, ‘Such random attacks on security forces performing their duty must be put down with a firm hand’.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi tweeted, ‘Brutal killing of security personnel in Chhattisgarh is despicable.’Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi termed the attack as a ‘senseless act of violence’. He expressed his anguish at the death of paramilitary and police personnel.
Union home minister Sushil kumar Shinde said, ‘We will fight against this Maoist movement. We will take the Maoists head on.Director General of CRPF, Dilip Trivedi, has been told to reach the area immediately.’ Chief Minister Raman Singh said that the carnage was ‘an act of cowardice’. He called it ‘a direct assault on democracy’ and an attempt to stall growth in the state. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan strongly condemned the attack.
However theIndian National Congress (INC) and Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) also tried to take some political mileage from the incident, considering the fact that it is an election year. BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad termed the attack as an attempt to ‘influence’ the Lok Sabha polls. However, the Congress Party has rejected such contentions. Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, ‘It is completely unacceptable to suggest that such things can happen during elections. Writ of the government should run strong and any failure is unacceptable’.
Naxalism is not a new problem in India. Nor is this attack the first by the Maoists. In fact, in his Independence Day speech last year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said that Naxalism remains the biggest internal security challenge and it is imperative to control Left-wing extremism for the country’s growth.
What is of grave concern is that the attack happened despite warnings sent by Intelligence Bureau (IB) and other intelligence agencies, asking the Naxal-hit states to be extra-cautious. 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. The Home Minister has meanwhile assured that every possible steps will be taken to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in future.
Have a news story, an interesting write up or simply a suggestion? Write to us at info@oneworldnews.in
